


The Silliest Jurassic Park Fanfiction Ever Written

by Lord_Kristine



Category: Jurassic Park (Movies)
Genre: Aero Bar, Allosaurus, Baby Raptor, Elkay, Explosions, Gen, Lasers, Orange Cat, Ovid, Robin Smith, Silly, narrator - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 19:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 87,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3662778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_Kristine/pseuds/Lord_Kristine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ellie, Alan, and Ian are called back to Isla Nublar under unusual circumstances. They reluctantly agree to return. After all, what could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Princess The Snake](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Princess+The+Snake).



Prologue

**Isla Nublar**

**120 Miles West of Costa Rica**  


A clap of thunder sent a shock wave through the tropical jungle, dully rocking a muddy RV trailer that had been hurriedly parked between two large boulders. Although it was backed up against a cliff, the vehicle was hardly sheltered from the rain, which poured down like a cascade of high-velocity pebbles. Given the frantic nature of the scene, the raindrops were not unlike anxious fingers, tapping the glossy roof with a sense of desperate urgency. The rhythm was, in essence, a natural metronome for the vehicle’s occupants, though the tempo was far too sporadic and frenzied for their liking. Every so often, a swaying palm tree would be caught in an unexpected blast of wind, creating an unearthly wail as the pinnate leaves rattled in defiance, snapping at the storm like a pack of ferocious predators. The surrounding vegetation would occasionally be thrust against the trailer with a metallic thud, startling those inside. The impact was fierce enough to buckle the roof . . . or so it seemed.

The noise, however, failed to overpower the shrieks and gurgles that came from behind the reinforced windows. 

A group of scientists and maintenance workers were frantically searching for a means to silence a meter-long reptile, whom they had recently captured. The head scientist and his female assistant were struggling to hold it still, clamping its mouth shut whenever possible, for it had chewed through their muzzle. The device was still fastened around its skull, though the front segment dangled from the reptile’s mouth like a gob of saliva.

Although it was less than a year old, the hatchling proved to be a rebellious hostage, not as lethal as its adult counterparts, perhaps, but troublesome nonetheless. As it thrashed about, its captors compensated for each movement tenaciously, just barely managing to constrain its pebbly body, which was still slick with rainwater. Whenever it made a lunge for their faces, they squeezed it reprimandingly, though the assistant would sometimes offer random phrases of gentle reassurance to lessen the cruelty of the gesture.

The lesser scientists would often flinch at these potentially hostile movements, latently preparing themselves for an unprecedented escape. They remained tense long after these brief intervals, watching the creature out of the corners of their eyes. Their anxiety did not remain unnoticed by their supervisor, however, who used their fear as a sordid motivator.

“Don’t let the little bugger distract you, folks; it only gives the pack more time to plan an ambush. Let’s shut him up so we can put some distance between us, eh?” a brawny engineer prompted.

A few scientists cringed at the man’s comment. There was no way they could delay the trailer’s discovery; it was far too late for a silent escape, and the creature’s vocalizations had nothing to do with it. Had they captured any other infant, as they had done countless times before, they would be as safe as was possible on a dinosaur-infested island. He wasn’t the largest theropod they had wrangled- not even close- but the species’ deadliness was not dependent on brute force alone.

Because they had not prepared themselves for anything more than a grab-and-go mission, the researchers were the quarry of a relentless foe, and everyone knew it. No one was safe as long as they remained stationary beside the crossroad, and the pretense of subtlety was nothing more than a dubious façade to the panicked scientists.

The maintenance workers, on the other hand, seemed to believe the engineer’s claims, though they lacked the competence needed to contribute to the endeavor.

It was clear that someone would have to decide upon a course of action.

Nobody volunteered. 

Whether or not they could access their destination by speeding across the most direct path was becoming irrelevant as their assailants drew near. The longer road, though more concealed, was hazardous in rainy conditions, but they were somewhat equipped for this type of vehicular travel. Neither option was completely viable, given the cunning of their adversaries and the unpredictable weather. Whatever the case, they would have to motor it if a consensus couldn’t be reached.

Without warning, their situation became much, _much_ worse. The back half of the trailer suddenly lurched into a squelchy dike, splashing the bumper with putrid water. Those who were close to the walls grabbed counters and ledges for support. A toolbox smashed open with a frightening bang. The scalpels inside slid across the floor one by one, clattering against the back wall noisily, creating a cacophony of percussive rattling.

After a couple of half-hearted wobbles, the RV finally settled itself in a precarious, slanted state. A temporary river had formed at the base of the cliff behind the trailer, and the earth beneath the back wheels was slowly washing away. 

“Someone, get the tow rope!” the engineer shouted.

The scientists froze. Some shuffled backwards sheepishly, others stared at the man with utter disbelief. Surely, he didn’t expect . . .

“You, Joe! On your feet!”

The conscripted mechanic shook his head fiercely, but his reluctance was soon dismissed. Before he could protest any further, he was shoved out the door, still whimpering, into the rainy darkness.

With Joe gone, a sudden hush swept over the scientists. The baby dinosaur was no longer screaming. It sat quietly in the scientists’ arms, chirruping pleasantly. Somehow, this was less reassuring than before. 

“Alright men, keep it moving! We don’t want to get behind schedule!”

Although most personnel obeyed his commands, some stared ominously out the front window, waiting for the inevitable tragedy to occur. They had seen death before, but they were never quite ready for it, nor had they been completely desensitized to gore and violence. Through the front window, they tried to get a good view of the jungle, but the rain was thick, and it was nearly impossible to see through the dense, silver curtain of vapor.

One spectator turned to his friend and began to place bets on how long Joe would survive. He was joking, of course, but they still agreed on “less than five minutes”. Morbid humor was hardly a rarity in such tense environments, but there was a hint of seriousness to this particular gag. Rather than dwell on it, the scientists focused their attention on the engineer, who was presently yelling at them.

“Quit gawking! We have work to do! Get your rears into gear, people!”

They obeyed. Fumbling through the drawers with lithe movements, they ducked out of the engineer’s line of sight.

“That’s more like it! Well, I’ll be damned! Johnson found a rope! Tie the little sucker up, boys, and for the love of god, someone tell Joe to hurry u-”

The trailer rocked. Suddenly, the researchers were paralyzed with fear. Even the engineer seemed petrified. After a moment of silence, he attempted to resume his authoritative instructions.

“It was nothing. Forget about it. We-”

Before he could finish, Johnson turned him around with his free hand. There, sliding down the front windshield, was a bloody stub of an arm.

“My god . . .”

“Is that? . . .”

The engineer turned sharply.

“Move! Move! Move!” he bellowed.

The man in the driver’s seat slammed his foot on the gas pedal. The wheels spun uselessly. The engineer knew that they would need to conserve their fuel, seeing as they had no idea how long it would have to last, but if one of those raptors breached the fragile windows, they wouldn’t live long enough to burn their supply.

“Hey, Simon! Any chance you could get us moving?” the engineer shouted.

“You want to get out and push?” Simon snapped.

The engine’s roar, combined with human shouts and raptor cries, was loud enough to force any coherent thoughts to dissipate upon arrival. The personnel, who had once (for the most part) graduated with distinction, were now as competent as lobotomized pigeons. It was a chaotic scene.

Then, for a brief moment, the raptors went silent, except for the baby in the back area, who had resumed his wailing. A single cry emerged from outside the vehicle, followed by silence, save for the constant revving of the engine and the shrieking infant. The head scientist scanned the room with a scowl, holding his index finger over his lips. His assistant was shaking fiercely, but she managed to catch Simon’s eye. He stopped revving the engine as everyone listened intently.

The baby emitted a short, shrill call. From outside, a similar response, then silence. A single raptor stepped into the light of the back window. She moved forward with a calculated prowl, prodding the trailer with her snout to find a weak spot. She raised her head when she reached the window, her breath fogging the glass with each puff.

Suddenly, she backed away. The scientists, who had been frozen with terror, began to let their guard down.

_BAM!_

The first impact of four raptors simultaneously ramming the back wall rocked the RV, knocking anything loose across the floor. Everyone scrambled to their feet, bracing themselves for the next attempt. The second impact came, and with it, a large crack in the back window. 

“Simon, get that engine revving! We’ve got to move!” 

Simon gunned the accelerator. 

Then came the third, hardest, _most brutal_ impact. The force, coupled with the aggressive revving of the engine, dislodged the RV from the dike and sent everyone to the floor again, as they had been bracing for a short thrust, and were therefore caught off guard by the sudden movement of the vehicle.

As much as they wanted to get away from the raptors, their chauffeur could only drive around 45 km/hour safely. Driving at night in a jungle with torrential rains meant that any slight mistake on his part would send the RV straight into a tree, and that would certainly mean being overrun by raptors . . . or instant death, if they were lucky.

The engineer was once again on the verge of an outburst, but Simon didn’t need reminding. He set the RV in motion, conscious of his speed, but more aware of the teeth and claws behind him. They barreled down the long route, bobbing up and down with the trailer like hula dancers.

Somehow, Johnson had managed to tie the baby raptor down, meaning the head scientist and his companion were free to move around. They could see the raptors running a car’s length behind them. Unfortunately for the scientists, they were having no trouble closing the gap. The chieftain of the velociraptors made a lunge for the vehicle, but missed. 

“Do you think those raptors are doing sixty?” the assistant ventured.

“Are you serious?” the head scientist spat, “This isn’t exactly an ideal time to clock their speed!”

“That’s not what I meant,” she snapped as she stumbled through the crowd. She pushed her way past the frazzled scientists, making her way towards Simon, who was still driving like a madman. 

“I have a plan. Boost us up to sixty,” she commanded.

“But I-”

“This part of the road runs straight for quite a while . . . Just do it!”

He shifted most of his weight to his right foot, accelerating them brutally. 

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing . . .” 

She did. 

Within a short amount of time, they began to match the raptors’ current speed.

“Are you _crazy_?” the head scientist shouted, having just noticed the absence of his partner, “We can’t outrun them!”

“We don’t have to,” she replied smugly.

Suddenly, sirens began to blare over pole-mounted loudspeakers. 

“Ha-ha! We triggered the speed-radar!” she whooped.

Sure enough, the raptors were backing off. They seemed to think that the humans had called for backup, or were at least alerted to their presence. They had broken formation, unfocused and confused. 

“We lost ‘em! Good thinking, Kibbledimpsky!” the engineer said brusquely. 

“Actually, it’s-” 

Before she could finish, Simon slammed his foot on the brake pedal, as they had mistakenly approached a hidden intersection. The trailer rolled onto its side, spiraling in the mud like a spinning bottle. It stopped when it came into contact with a decaying log, which penetrated the front windshield, nearly impaling the scientists like skewered meat. Most personnel managed to avoid the tree. Simon, however, was not so lucky. A small branch pinned his shoulder to the wall like an entomologist’s prized specimen, nearly cracking under his weight. He began to bleed profusely. The other scientists, who were not severely injured, crawled through the shattered windshield to escape. 

“Head for the jeeps! Leave the raptor!” the engineer shouted from the overturned vehicle.

With these words, the adult raptors, who had been watching the scene with primal curiosity, began to advance towards the trailer. The head scientist and his assistant were hobbling away from the scene together, both limping badly. They turned toward the wreckage with morbid awe.

“My god, they understand!” the assistant whispered.

They flung themselves into a jeep, which had been parked beside the maintenance garage, just as the raptors reached the RV. As they drove away, they could hear Simon screaming. He gurgled, and then was gone. Many scientists closed their eyes or bowed their heads, but Johnson was too busy to notice their despair. He had brought the raptor along, unbeknownst to the pack, and against the engineer’s will. His co-workers seemed displeased with his actions, but they were too shaken to come up with a reprimanding lecture.

The scientists sped off in their Wranglers, now fast enough to outrun the raptors. With heavy hearts, they mourned the loss of their friend. The baby raptor howled like a phantom, lost in the darkness and unheard by its kin.

One thing was for certain: it was going to be a long night.


	2. Wu

Wu

**BADLANDS**

**Near Drumheller, Alberta**  


The Horseshoe Canyon was scorching hot, even for a dig site. Though slightly more vegetated than most badlands, it was certainly no cakewalk for paleontologists, as there was little shade to be found in the flat landscape and hardly any moisture in the air. The hills were too rounded to cast effective shadows, and nobody dared stand beneath a hoodoo. It wasn’t exceedingly dangerous, per se, but it was often associated with bad luck. Many paleontologists were familiar with urban legends involving reckless teens toppling the structures and, although none of them took the stories too seriously, the morals still stuck. The clicking of their sharp, silver tools echoed off the barred canyon walls in an irritable fashion. It was as if fifty people had decided to give a toast simultaneously at a dinner party. The tarps they had set up were competing for their attention, rumbling in the wind as it gusted through the sand.

Many yards away, the curators of _The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology_ were welcoming their guest speakers. A man and a woman stepped off the shuttle bus that had been reserved for their use. They shielded their eyes from the sun by tipping their hats, also hoping to keep them from blowing away in the strong desert wind. After exchanging a brief greeting, the museum staff led them to the front entrance, where a banner had been unfurled in their honor. Emblazoned beside the text of the poster (which read “Trike Talk”) was a cartoony triceratops with sunglasses.

“Funny, I don’t remember them being neon blue,” the man grumbled sardonically. The woman hushed him, and they entered the museum.

Inside, they were greeted by a husky man with a thick handlebar mustache and curly red hair. He shook their hands enthusiastically, his beady eyes twinkling like little stars.

“Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, it’s a pleasure to meet both of you! How was the flight from Wyoming? Did you go see Big Al?” he bubbled.

Grant removed his aviators and stared him straight in the eyes.

“I’m afraid I’m not a big fan of theropods, Mr. Geoffrey,” he said pointedly.

Taken aback by his comment, Geoffrey stood quite still, his eyes darting back and forth uncomfortably. Finally, Sattler broke the silence.

“Your museum is quite impressive. Is it true that you have a brachiosaurus?”

“It’s a cast, I’m afraid, but it is very complete. Still, there’s nothing quite like the real thing, eh?” he barked jovially.

“You have no idea,” Grant huffed as he left to check in at the front desk. Sattler and Geoffrey watched him leave.

“He’s a bit tired . . . We didn’t get much sleep on the flight to Calgary. You- You said there was an auditorium?” she inquired hastily.

“Yes . . .” Geoffrey began, still confused, “Once Dr. Grant has checked in, we’ll set you up at the podium . . . Are you _sure_ he’s alright?”

“Oh, he’ll be fine. Once he starts talking about trikes, he can’t be convinced to stop! They’re his favorite, you know.”

“So I heard. Ah, here he comes! Follow me.”

The two paleontologists followed Geoffrey, both a little disgruntled from the exchange. Sattler put her hand on Grant’s arm. It was not a loving gesture: it was a gentle warning. If they wanted to avoid a fiasco, they would have to forget about their experiences with InGen and Jurassic Park.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“There is no solid evidence that torosaurus and triceratops were one and the same, but we could be on the verge of discovering an important link. We now know that brontosaurus does not exist as a separate species, and thus, we can reasonably assume that human error is a possibility in this case as well. We still can’t explain why a trike would suddenly develop holes in its frill, but we’re well on our way to coming up with a reasonable hypothesis. I hope that answers your question.”

“Thank you, Dr. Grant.”

The auditorium was packed with people. Among them, there must have been over thirty children (as Dr. Sattler had pointed out at the beginning of the lecture) who were all wearing playfoam triceratops hats (still blue, as Dr. Grant had pointed out as they were entering the theatre area). Although some of the children stayed with their parents, the younger ones sat cross-legged on a red mat by the front of the stage. Some seemed bored, while others listened so intently that they hardly moved a muscle. One such child raised his hand. A staff member made his way over with a microphone. The child stood up to ask his question.

“Is it true that some dinosaurs ate rocks?” he squeaked.

“Well, they didn’t really eat the rocks so much as swallow them,” Grant began, “They needed these stones to digest their food, which, as Dr. Sattler mentioned earlier, was not entirely crushed by their teeth.”

“Thank you.” the child replied.

As he sat down, Sattler took a sip from her water bottle. So far, the presentation had been incident-free, but the mention of gizzard stones dwelled uncomfortably close in subject to the encounter they had had with the sick triceratops, who had ingested West Indian Lilac berries accidentally while consuming nearby rocks. They would be fine with any other conversation point, of course, as long as no one dared to ask the most sensitive question . . .

“Dr. Grant, can we ever bring dinosaurs back to life?”

Sattler spat out her water. She coughed a couple of times, genuinely embarrassed. Although she was certain that he had noticed, Grant gave no indication of it. 

“Well, if we _could_ find a way to recreate dinosaurs, we’d have to exercise great caution,” he said calmly.

He caught Sattler’s eye, gave her a “you-don’t-have-to-worry-about-me” kind of look, and turned back to the mic. 

“I’d say our time was just about up, but if you want to learn more about dinosaurs, you can head into the museum. Thank you.”

The audience applauded, and some of the children gave them a standing ovation. The buzz of conversation quickly flooded through the theatre as the guest speakers made their way towards the exit. Once they had squeezed through the crowd, they were congratulated by Geoffrey, who shook their hands like maracas. 

“That was wonderful! The kids loved it, too! You were spellbinding!”

“Well, the audience didn’t fall asleep, so I guess I can’t be _too_ boring,” Grant joked.

“I suppose not!” Geoffrey laughed.

Although the fractious tension between the two had dissipated, it was not destined to last long. The sound of a heavy, disjointed roar seemed to be approaching the museum. The crew cocked their heads to better identify the sound.

It was a helicopter.

When it became clear that the chopper was set to land nearby, Dr. Grant began to walk briskly towards the exit. There was no doubt who was responsible for the unscheduled landing, though he didn’t want to believe it. Ellie apologized to Geoffrey and ran after him, hoping that it was a false alarm. In any case, she would have to slow him down, or he would arouse suspicion. Nobody needed to know than they were involved with Hammond or his affiliates.

She caught up with Grant and grabbed his arm.

“Alan! Alan, wait! It’s probably nothing,” she pleaded.

“Goddamnit, Ellie, you know as well as I do that it’s InGen! How many museums have helicopters?”

“Fine, fine, you’re right. But it’s probably more paperwork. You know: nothing serious.”

He wasn’t convinced. They ran out the front entranceway and, sure enough, an InGen chopper had landed near the dig site. The propellers slowed down, lessening the small sandstorm they had created. The paleontologists were not pleased. Some yelled at the pilot in frustration, others covered the unearthed fossils to prevent further damage. It was a mess.

Sattler apologized to the paleontologists as she passed by. They glared at her, but she ignored them. As they approached the chopper, Sattler and Grant noticed a dark-haired man in a lab coat climbing out of the back seat. They had met him before, but only briefly. Still, it was hard to forget an experience like the hatching of a velociraptor. The man’s name, however, eluded them.

“Hello, Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler. How have you been?”

“Fine, thank you. What’s this about?” Grant snapped, wondering where Hammond was.

“It’s just a precaution. You’ll need to return to the US with us. Follow me.”  
Sattler shook her head.

“Hold on a second. We are NOT getting into that helicopter until you explain what’s going on. We aren’t scheduled to leave until the third,” she protested.

The man turned sharply.

“For your own safety, I must insist that you postpone any further plans and come with me,” he whispered harshly.

It was clear that, whatever the issue was, they had no choice in the matter. The implied urgency of this meeting was a shift from the usual encounters with InGen, which were usually businesslike and well-regulated. Since the initial disaster, they had signed countless forms, documents, and pacts to ensure the company’s credibility. It was stressful work, and they weren’t morally satisfied with their nondisclosure, but Hammond had made the ordeal as smooth as possible. He truly regretted his decisions regarding Jurassic Park, and he was more than ready to accept responsibility for what had happened on Isla Nublar. He was still a sweet old man, visionary and eccentric, but he was certainly less naïve after the incident. If there was one thing that could get them on this helicopter, it was the implied promise that they could somehow assist the poor man in his endeavors.

“Alright, we’ll go. Just don’t expect us to stay for long,” Grant hummed.

“I’d like nothing more than to be a good host, Dr. Grant, but the subject matter we are about to discuss is anything but pleasant,” the man said with a frown, “Ah, that reminds me: I’ve brought one of your friends along.”

“Who?” they asked in unison.

A scruffy passenger (who had been speaking with the pilot in the front seat) sat up and greeted them from the window. 

“I take it you’re still digging up dinosaur bones?”

“Ian!” they shouted simultaneously.

Mr. Malcolm climbed out of the helicopter, wearing his usual black attire. He returned a lengthy hug from Sattler, which irked Grant. No one seemed to notice his discomfort, however, and before they knew it, they were packed into the helicopter, ready to fly to their southern destination.

On their way out of town, the crew passed the municipal square. A lumpy, green dinosaur statue, delicately encircled by a ring of fluttering flags, was visible from the left side of the chopper. Behind it, a massive saurian foot was being repositioned in what appeared to be a construction site. 

“Did you hear they’re building _The World’s Largest Dinosaur_?” the pilot shouted from the front seat, “Can you imagine a giant T-Rex standing _right there_? Impressive.”

“You’re new to InGen, aren’t you?” Grant huffed unpleasantly, much to the pilot’s confusion.

“Alan!” Sattler snapped.

“Oh, let him have his fun, Ellie. I can still call you ‘Ellie’, right? It’s been a while . . .” Malcolm said jokingly as he chewed on a stick of gum.

“Yes, it has,” Grant retorted threateningly. 

They soared past the gigantic foot, over the river, through the hills, and into the sunlight. Whatever awaited them on the other side of the border, it was not going to be a friendly rendezvous.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Within less than two hours, they were flying over Montana. Ellie was surprised to find that, even after several months of coming to terms with the traumatic events at Isla Nublar, Ian was as sardonic as ever. Ellie even suspected that he was attempting to make advances towards her, but she paid him no mind. It was good to see a familiar face, even if this particular face sometimes dwelled uncomfortably close to her personal space.

Truth be told, she still wasn’t over the incident herself. She often had nightmares that recreated her experience in the power shed, ventilation shafts, and even the jeep. Sometimes, she would find herself running through an endless jungle, unable to escape whatever happened to be chasing her that night. Most of the time, it was a raptor, but it was never consistent.

Ellie shook the thought and focused on the friendly chitchat that Alan seemed to be making with Ian.

“You’re still a- What did you call it?- a ‘chaotician’, then, Ian?” 

“Uh, no, actually. I’ve decided that, uh, all of that ‘chaos theory’ stuff was a waste of time. What good is a theory if you’re always proven right, you know?”

“Um . . . sure. So what is it you do now?” 

Ian sat up straight in his chair and declared, “I’m a multidimensional theorist.”

“A multi-what?” Ellie inquired.

“Oh, you know: the, uh, Parallel Universe Model? No?” 

They shook their heads.

“Well, you see, uh, my hypothesis is that there are countless universes that exist across the space-time continuum, each differing slightly from our own.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Well, of course it is, Alan! I wouldn’t study it if it was real. Like I said: I hate being right all the time.”

At that moment, the bioengineer, whom they now knew as Henry Wu, stepped into the back room.

“I’m afraid our CEO isn’t feeling too well, so we’ll have to cancel our meeting and go straight to Costa Rica,” he said apologetically.

“Costa Rica?!” Ellie shrieked.

“You aren’t going to take us to the island, are you?” Alan added.

“Calm down. I suppose I’ll have to explain myself. You see, all three of you carry a deadly virus that you acquired from your exposure to the InGen dinosaurs, specifically the theropods. When exposed to a large amount of radiation, the virus will begin to take effect, causing reactions that are still somewhat mysterious to us.”

“Radiation? What do you mean, ‘radiation’? As long as we avoid whatever it is you’re talking about, shouldn’t we be fine? We haven’t exactly been swimming in nuclear waste, you know,” Alan pointed out.

Wu paused, sighing deeply.

“It may or may not come as a surprise to you that some of InGen’s equipment was . . . less than legal. We have a nuclear reactor under the island, but it gives off very specific pulses of power in emergency situations. As such, it was activated when you reignited the park’s power, Dr. Sattler.”

“Oh my god,” she whispered, “So this virus is . . . dangerous? What does it do?”

“We can’t be completely certain without further research,” Wu stuttered, “but what we _do_ know is that this situation warrants great caution.”  
“Hang on,” Ian interrupted, “You can’t just ship us to Jurassic Park and expect us to buy this half-baked explanation! Why are you so concerned if you don’t know the symptoms? Why contact us now? And, most importantly, why ship us to an island populated by MAN-EATING DINOSAURS?”

Wu began to lose his temper. 

“We have set up an impenetrable perimeter around the guest area with stronger electric fences- too large for the dinosaurs to break through this time. There are guards posted at certain intervals, day and night, and we have built safer vehicles for exterior travel, which you will NOT be partaking in anyway. Only the smallest dinosaurs can bypass security and, with the right equipment, they shouldn’t be a problem. The facility is airtight, bar none.”

“Impossible.”

“I beg to differ, Mr. Malcolm.”

“Listen, if you could tell us more about this virus, we’d be much obliged,” Alan stated methodically, attempting to bypass Wu’s reluctance to explain their condition.

Wu rubbed his temples.

“It’s complicated, but I suppose it’s not too much for a scientific mind like yours to handle. You see, this virus does not only affect humans. The dinosaurs have also been suffering from the disease, though the effects are drastically different. It seems to only affect the theropods, which indicates that the bird DNA we used to substitute missing gene fragments may be linked to susceptibility.”

“Wait, you said that you used _frog_ genes to splice DNA last time we visited,” Ellie said dazedly.

“We used different genes for different dinosaurs. They all had traces of frog DNA, but some species required reptilian and avian DNA as well. In hindsight, perhaps we should have listened to Dr. Sorkin . . .”

“Who?”

“You know: Dr. Laura Sorkin?” Wu prompted.

“I’m sorry,” Ellie said, “I don’t know a Dr. Sorkin. I don’t think I’ve even met anyone named Laura.”

“She was a brilliant woman, though we never quite got along. She was right about the splicing, except, oddly enough, for the tyrannosaurus. Its vision is _definitely_ based on movement, and my genetic engineering had nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, our raptors were one of the most unfortunate cases of genetic abnormalities, next to the dilophosaurs. I don’t know if you realized, but our raptor DNA samples were from the Gobi desert. They shouldn’t have grown to be as large as your Western variety.”

“We didn’t know about the raptors, but- . . . Wait, was she fired, then, this scientist . . . Dr. Sorkin?” Alan asked bluntly.

“Pardon?”

“You said that Sorkin _was_ a brilliant scientist- past tense- implying that she left InGen. Was she laid off?” Ellie asked, having clued in on his meaning.

“In a manner of speaking,” Wu hummed dismissively.

Ellie didn’t know what had happened to Dr. Sorkin, but she could sense, by his tone of voice alone, that Wu wasn’t telling the whole truth. Apparently, the others felt the same way.

“Look, Doc, I don’t expect you to let us in on all your little ‘secrets’, but some honesty would be very much appreciated,” Ian suggested.

“You’re right. I’ll try to tell you as much as I can, but you may or may not believe me.”

“We wouldn’t have believed you if you’d told us you had living, breathing dinosaurs either,” Ellie pointed out, “Now . . .”

“We know better,” Alan said, finishing her sentence.

“Fair enough. The theropods have gained the ability to increase their avian gene prominence for short periods of time. They can sprout feathers, beaks, wings, and . . . and sometimes they can glide for short distances. We’ve leveled out the forest around the perimeter to prevent entry through flight, so you needn’t worry about that, but-”

“It seems as though you’re warning us about what _can’t_ happen. How about warning us about what _can_?” Alan asked.

Ellie nodded in agreement. To her, Wu’s eagerness to reassure them was a sign that, once again, something was amiss at Jurassic Park. Alan had told her that the frog DNA that InGen had used in their gene-sequencing had allowed the dinosaurs to switch gender in a single-sex environment. This whole situation was eerily similar to the frog incident. If they were going to be forced to visit the island, the least Wu could do would be to prepare them for the danger they were about to face.

 “Very well,” Wu conceded. He opened a storage compartment in the ceiling, pulling out a pile of laminated papers and various pieces of equipment.

“These are the tools you will need to ensure your safety when we arrive at Jurassic Park,” he said, passing them to each passenger, “This book will help you identify a possible threat by classifying the dinosaurs you will encounter. You won’t be sent far from the Visitors’ Center area, but you may need to identify some of the smaller dinosaurs, namely the compys.”

“What, this little squeaker?” Ian drawled, pointing to a picture of a minuscule green dinosaur.

“Yes. They are quite dangerous, as they tend to-”

“-swarm unsuspecting prey,” Alan said grimly.

“I had forgotten that you were so knowledgeable about saurian behavior,” Wu said with a grin, “The compys are aggressive, but the bambiraptors are like pigeons. We’ve learned to tolerate their presence. They’re more of a nuisance than a threat, really.”

Ellie turned to the page with information on bambiraptors. They were as small as the fossil record indicated, but it was quite different to actually see a picture of a live model. They were feathered, which was unsurprising, but their coloration was quite unique. Their down feathers were creamy brown, the larger quills being redder and more defined. Along their spine was a roan tinge, which highlighted the white spots on their sides. They were rather cute, but Ellie was still wary of their sharp teeth.

“If you begin to feel threatened by the smaller dinosaurs, use this spray to scare them off,” Wu said, holding a green spray-bottle for them to see.

“It says here that the compys are venomous,” Alan remarked with concern.

“Mildly,” Wu declared, “I’m afraid that some dinosaurs are venomous because . . . Well, it’s mostly due to the lizard DNA that we used for . . .”

Wu cleared his throat.

“Anyway, we’ll provide you with the proper inoculations to make you semi-resistant to their venom. The worst reactions you’ll get are mild hallucinations and dizziness, but it will not be fatal.”

Ellie shuddered. She didn’t like needles, but if the alternative was toxic venom . . .

“Hey Alan, what’s this seetee- uh- kit- kitty-” Ian stuttered.

“Citipati?” 

“Is that how you say it? Weird.”

“I’m sure it would think that ‘Ian’ is a weird name, too.”

Ellie laughed.

“And this, uh, this too- tuojeeang-”

“Tuojiangosaurus.”

“Two-wang-osaurus? He really got the short end of the naming stick, didn’t he?”

“Better than pantydraco.”

Ian paused.

“You’re serious?”

“It’s a real dinosaur,” Ellie said, confirming Alan’s claim.

Ian began to laugh in his usual Ian-ish way. Giggling like a ninny herself, Ellie realized that Wu had left to speak with the pilot. She hadn’t noticed whether it had been their fault, but it gave her an idea . . .

“Well, it seems we’ve scared Doctor Wu away,” she said craftily, “I suppose he won’t be guanlong.”

And thus began a tournament of dinosaur puns, ending with Alan’s infamous “Doyouthinkhesaurus” joke. Ellie wondered where he had picked it up. He used it quite often, especially with children, and they seemed to love it every time. Maybe he was just getting better with kids . . .

It wasn’t long before Ellie dozed off. She wasn’t quite sure when it happened, but one minute, she was resting her eyes, and the next, she was fast asleep. She didn’t realize she was dreaming when she found herself running through the jungle. The unmistakable roar of a Tyrannosaurus Rex was enough to convince her of real danger, and she didn’t plan to stick around to greet it. Escape was impossible, however, as the tyrannosaurus was approaching her too quickly. She ducked through the trees, but it was no use. A wall of tangled vines created a dead end. She could see the trees tearing apart, evidently due to the unseen dinosaur. A sharp squawk caught her attention. To her left was a pteranodon, perched nonchalantly on a rock. It looked at her with curiosity, and she couldn’t help but wonder if it was going to assist her. She called out to it, but it flew away. When she turned back to the forest, she could hear the crunching of vegetation. The trees parted, and-


	3. Deception

Deception

Ellie felt herself wake with a start. 

The plane was touching down in San José. The wheels whirred noisily beneath her, gradually slowing down as they sped along the private runway. A beam of orange sunlight passed over her face. She slid the window halfway shut, squinting at the harsh morning light. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up in her chair drowsily and stretched her arms.

“Don’t worry,” Alan said, unbuckling his seatbelt, “You can sleep on the helicopter if you’re still tired.”

And sleep, she did. She had a fitful and unsatisfying nap, and it wasn’t long before she woke up. The helicopter was jostling back and forth, caught in strong turbulence. After apologizing to Alan for waking up so violently (she had, in fact, punched him in the gut out of instinct), she noticed that they were flying across the ocean. The wrinkly waves zoomed past, sometimes reflecting glimmers of light as they undulated up and down.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to buckle up; there’s a strong headwind,” Wu shouted from the front compartment.

“I hope they’ve sorted out their seat belt issue . . .” Alan said, referring to the improperly installed equipment that he had been forced to use during their first trip. Unfortunately, as they pulled on each end, Ellie found that hers did not reach all the way. They seemed to be a different brand than the rest, which explained the lack of leeway. She sighed, removed one of her khaki strings, and closed the gap.

“That’s, uh, very clever. You learn that in Girl Scouts?” Ian joked.

“You know, Ian, I don’t think you’re quite aware of your verbal ticks. I’d say you’re practically a ut- _uh_ -raptor by now,” Alan retorted.

“What? Are you saying that I have some sort of . . . speech disfluency? That’s crazy! I don’t say ‘uh’ all the time! Do I?”

No one answered.

“I can stop whenever I want, you know. No, really, I can! Should I?”

“Well . . .” 

“Try to.”

The turbulence seemed to be lessening, though it kicked up every now and then, but Ellie didn’t care about the weather. They were safest in the air, even with a vicious updraft. Wind wasn’t clever. Wind didn’t eat people. 

Ellie picked up her dinosaur guide and started reading. She knew all of the trivia, of course, but some of the ritualistic behavior intrigued her. There was a diagram of the five main hunting patterns of theropods, but she could only identify three. She supposed that Alan would know more about that, but when it came to herbivorous diet, she was the best in her field. Still, unless she planned to use nutrition as a defense tactic, she was in big trouble. Maybe she could flick poisonous berries at the velociraptors. At least they would get a dinner and a show.

“You worried?” Alan asked gently.

“A little.”

“While you were asleep on the plane, Wu told us that it should only take a day or two to identify the virus. We just need to wait for a proper diagnosis, then we can go. We’ll be in and out before you know it.”

Ellie sighed.

“If only it were that simple. I’d like to believe that nothing’s wrong, but . . .”

“I know, I know,” Alan whispered, “We just need to be complacent for now. I get the feeling that Wu won’t be answering our questions any time soon.”

It wasn’t _like_ Alan to dismiss such important queries, Ellie thought to herself. He was acting rather strange, especially considering his out-of-character lack of stubbornness. 

“What else did Wu say while I was asleep?”

“Nothing much.”

Alan remained motionless, showing no signs of abnormal conduct. Ellie, however, noticed a couple of interesting facts. Firstly, Ian was fidgeting more than usual. He and Alan were definitely hiding something. One of her old college professors had told her about an experience he had had at his former job as a customs officer. During his first week of employment, he had met a shady man and his wife at the checkpoint, and when he asked them if they had any weapons to claim, he had caught them out on their lie by examining the wife’s facial expressions whenever her husband fibbed. Ellie suspected that something similar was going on here. While she was asleep, they would have had plenty of time to talk. Wu had probably told them something which, for one reason or another, Alan didn’t want to share with her. She doubted that they would have risked speaking out loud while she was in earshot (assuming that the news was not meant for her, and it was certainly looking that way), but it was very much possible that Wu might have written it down-

There.

Alan had shoved a folded paper into his left pocket. Ellie could see the outline of printed text through the top part of the sheet, and there appeared to be a lot of it. On the outside, she could see half-smudged squiggles, which she recognized as Alan’s handwriting. As far as she could gather, Wu had given him the document, and he had written on the back to communicate with either Ian or Wu to avoid waking her up.

Although she was impressed with her own detective skills, Ellie didn’t know how to proceed with this discovery. Should she confront Alan, or trust that he was right to keep it from her? It was a tough decision . . .

“We’ve arrived,” Wu shouted from the passenger’s seat.

Sure enough, the island loomed menacingly in the distance. The clouds formed halos around the mountainous region, dipping into the canyons and valleys like fog. Although it was a serene view, the mystery of what lay beneath the haze was overwhelming. From this distance, it was impossible to see any dinosaurs, but Ellie knew they were there. If the area around the Visitors’ Center was the only secure location, the dinosaurs could be anywhere outside the perimeter. Of course, the trio wouldn’t have to explore their surroundings, but it was frightening to know that, should air-based travel be unavailable, the only way off the island was _through_ dino-infested territory. 

They reached the area above the helicopter pad and began their descent. It was a bumpy ride, but they landed safely. As they exited the chopper, a group of Costa Rican workers helped them to the ground. Dozens of armed men seemed to be stationed along the dusty pathway by the electric fence, obviously one of Wu’s aforementioned precautions. As the guests entered one of the parked jeeps, Ellie heard the workers mocking them.

“Well, well, well, here come the entrées!”

“I don’t know, the lady seems a bit scrawny. Better leave her to the compys.”

“I’ll bet the man in black is going to die first.”

“No, no! The man with the hat is as good as dead; he looks dim-witted to me.”

Ellie slammed the jeep door.

“They could at least wait until we’re out of earshot,” she huffed.

“What?” Alan asked, lowering his map.

“The workers . . . they’re making fun of us. Can’t you hear them?”

Alan shook his head.

“You must be going deaf. Ian, you heard them, right?”

Ian stopped picking his nails to look up.

“I wasn’t listening.”

“You men are hopeless!” Ellie laughed.

“Hey, now!” Ian gasped with mock-offense.

“It’s true: you never pay attention to your surroundings,” Ellie insisted.

“Oh, come on, we’re not that aloof- Wait, are we on the island _already_?” Ian joked.

“Okay, that was _really_ corny, even for you,” Ellie giggled.

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg. How about this: a T-Rex, a deinonychus, and a dromiceiomimus walk into a bar . . .”

“Oh, boy,” Alan groaned, rolling his eyes, “It’s going to be a long drive.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

By the time they reached the Visitors’ Center, it was almost sundown. They unloaded their luggage from the cargo plane (Wu had called his assistants to fly it over separately), changed into semi-formal attire in the staff locker room, and made their way towards the dining hall. As they passed through the main entranceway, Ellie noticed that the central display was now a colorful flower bed. Obviously, they had rendered the decorative fossils quite unusable during their last visit. Additionally, what had once been a gaping hole in the building was now a large window, which let rays of sunlight stream over the foliage in an esthetically pleasing manner.

The lobby wasn’t the only renovated area, however. 

The dining hall had been expanded on one side, dipping deeper into the jungle and surrounding fields. The familiar mural was still in place, though it was hidden behind food stations. The crew marched through the buffet line, picked up their trays, and found a table on the outer rim of the patio. All context aside, one might guess that they were at a tropical resort, albeit a resort populated by scientists and technicians.

The staff, who now had access to the tourists’ quarters, were also having dinner, though they seemed to be less talkative than the trio. They looked exhausted, or at least overworked. As such, they were too tired to partake in small talk. Ian, however, was going full-throttle, and did not hesitate to point out the excessive amount of parsley on Ellie’s plate. She explained that parsley seemed to relieve her stress-related afflictions, and she certainly had a lot of anxiety to deal with after the incident. She had suffered through several phases of physical distress (loss of appetite, momentary weakness, and minor hair-loss, for example) for months after their return to the mainland, and parsley had somehow become a miracle cure. Ian seemed to accept her explanation, and dropped the subject as quickly as he had brought it up.

The patio, Ellie noticed, overlooked a beautiful jungle pool, which was lined with lush ferns and other foliage. Through the electric fence, it was possible to see free-roaming herbivores, mostly hadrosaurs, bathing in the shimmering water. The juvenile dinosaurs would weave between the cattails with glee, splashing each other playfully from time to time. Their parents, who refused to acknowledge the rowdy game, waded through clusters of lily pads, whistling at each other gently and trumpeting whenever their babies wandered too far. Smaller dinosaurs, such as the compys, would hop through the electric fence to scavenge around the perimeter. Occasionally, a bambiraptor would dart between the patio tables, though the scientists were quick to shoo them away. They seemed to be crowding one table, however, where a blonde woman in a lab coat was sneezing furiously. Upon further inspection, Ellie noticed that she was actually feeding the bambiraptors inconspicuously. She would take a bite of her food, spit it into her napkin, and drop it by the leg of her chair. This continued until her companion returned to the table. He scolded her, whispering furiously to avoid drawing attention to her scheme. Obviously, she was either new to the job, or incredibly irresponsible. It turned out to be the latter, however, as her identification card was yellow, meaning she was outranked only by the head of her department.

The InGen hierarchical system was simple and easy to follow, as the ranks were color-coded. There was red for the top managers (Wu was among them, having been promoted shortly after the incident), orange for the heads of department, yellow for assistants, green for general scientists, blue for experienced workers, and purple for those who had no idea what they were doing. Should there be an emergency, Wu had told them that the staff from yellow to red were the most trustworthy consultants, though that didn’t mean a whole lot coming from InGen. Still, they had improved upon security, which was interesting. Within a few years, the park had gone from Disneyland to Alcatraz. 

“. . . I’m not saying they should put a censor bar over its head or anything, but maybe they could give it a hat or something . . .” Ian babbled.

“Tsintaosaurus?” Ellie asked, having not heard the beginning of the conversation. Alan nodded.

“See, see, I made it better!” Ian said, pointing at a crudely-drawn party hat that he had scribbled on the skeletal image.

“You _do_ know that the actual dinosaur had a full crest, Ian?”

“Yeah, but would you look at that bone?”

Alan rolled his eyes.

“At least he’s learned how to pronounce their names,” he huffed.

Ian beamed.

“I have! And- and! I haven’t said ‘uh’- That one doesn’t count- for at least fifteen minutes.”

“Give it time, Ian.”

“Aw, come on. You just don’t like being wrong. It’s, uh- OH! I mean, uh . . . goddamnit!”

Ellie began to laugh hysterically. The others joined in, and they became so enthusiastic that a group of scientists turned to see what all the fuss was about. Soon, they realized how ridiculous they sounded and laughed even more. 

“I’m glad to see that you’re enjoying yourselves.”

Ellie, who had not heard Wu arrive, jumped in surprise. Alan and Ian settled down to hear what he had to say. He placed a set of keys on the glass table with a messy ‘klink’.

“We have prepared your rooms in our guest hotel. There are two spare keys, just in case. You’ll be next-door to each other in rooms 1905 and 1906. Your luggage has been sent up to the ninth floor, but you may choose your rooms when you arrive.”

“Do you have cable?” Ian joked.

“As a matter of fact, we do. Our telecommunications center is still fully functional, as our guest housing was always top priority . . . next to the attractions, of course.”

“Spared no expense,” Alan sighed dismally. 

On their way out of the restaurant, they passed the blonde scientist’s table. The bambiraptors were long gone, and her supervisor didn’t seem too pleased with her behavior. She poked and prodded at her food like a child who had just been punished, glaring at her boss whenever he looked away. From what Ellie had heard, InGen hadn’t always hired the most reliable staff members. Aside from basic incompetence, there was always the issue of ethics in a tense situation. It wasn’t easy to set a moral code for an entire corporation, and dissidence was bound to be a problem if they didn’t keep a close eye on their employees. Hammond had even admitted to hiring some less-than-trustworthy personnel, though he never went into detail when discussing such things.

Ellie frowned. A strange thought was beginning to surface, and she didn’t like the implications one bit. Hammond hadn’t contacted them before the trip, which seemed unusual . . . even suspicious. Although Hammond didn’t always pre-announce his visits, he had never delegated the job to some bioengineer whom they didn’t know well. Hammond had always been a strong believer in personal relations, and this whole situation seemed quite the opposite. The more Ellie thought about it, the more she began to worry. Wu hadn’t so much as mentioned Hammond . . . No, that wasn’t true. He had said that he wasn’t feeling well, hadn’t he? If Hammond was really sick, wouldn’t he at least call them to make sure that they knew how to proceed with his affiliates? 

Ellie struggled to remember Wu’s exact words, but she had been so overwhelmed by their predicament that she hadn’t paid attention to his phrasing. She would have to ask Alan about it later. Then there was the issue of the mysterious paper . . .

 

This deal was getting worse all the time.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

When they stepped out of the elevator, the trio found that their rooms were not too far from the floor’s lounge. Ellie and Alan noticed their luggage waiting by the door. Ian, who had obviously been notified about the voyage ahead of time, had packed more appropriately for the trip. He lent them a can of bug-spray and some rope. They didn’t ask what the rope was for: Ian worked in mysterious ways. After a brief farewell, they split up to examine their rooms.

Ellie and Alan’s room was massive. Aside from the king-sized bed, KW-3200HD television set, and crimson sofa, there was a bathroom large enough to house an elk and a patio with a gorgeous view of the island. The decor seemed to have a prominent prehistoric theme (appropriate, given the nature of the park). The walls were lined with faint silhouettes of dinosaurs, and the carpet was no different. The bedside table had ornately-carved vermiform plants as supports, ending in twirling ferns and blossoms. The real eye-grabber, however, was the oil painting above the sofa. It depicted a fight between a T-Rex and a triceratops on volcanic terrain. The triceratops was frozen in mid-scream as the tyrannosaurus mauled its shoulder, leaving red striations along its back.

“That’s comforting,” Ellie remarked.

Shortly after they finished unpacking, there was a knock at the connecting door, followed by a sporadic drum solo.

“I’ll get it,” Ellie volunteered. When she opened the door, Ian strode into their room and looked around.

“Wow, I think your room might be nicer than mine. Wanna trade? I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Have you checked out the bathroom yet? I got free shampoo.”

“Very nice, Ian. What are you doing over here?” Alan huffed.

“Can’t a neighbor visit once in a while?” he asked with a smirk, “I thought you guys might want to head to the lounge for a bit. We could watch TV, have a drink, regale each other with tales of yore . . .”

“Not now, thanks,” Alan said dismissively.

“Aw, come on. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

“Maybe some other time, Ian,” Ellie added apologetically, “We’re a bit jet-lagged.”

“Alright, alright,” he said, holding up his hands defensively, “Do what you want. Just remember: if you need anything, I’m here.”

“Thank you, Ian,” Alan rasped as he pushed him towards the door, “We’ll keep that in mind.”

He shut the door firmly once Ian was through and exhaled deeply. Ellie was relieved that Ian had not persisted in his suggestion of a slumber-party escapade, though she felt guilty for turning him down. Ian was very keen to socialize, which put the three of them in an uncomfortable situation. If Alan and Ian were left to their own devices, Ellie didn’t believe that they’d get along too well, yet if she were to join Ian without Alan, he would most likely feel neglected, maybe even jealous. Unless they could find the time to remain a trio for the majority of the trip, someone was bound to be left behind. It was like the old river-crossing riddle, only there was no farmer to keep the goose company in the rowboat while the fox waited with the bag of beans. It was clear that no one wanted to be the third wheel of the group, especially in such a dangerous and unfamiliar place, but (considering her current relationship with Alan) it was easy to predict who that third wheel would be. In any case, they would have to deal with the issue later.

Alan lifted his suitcase off the sofa and rolled it out of the way.

“I think I’ll shower before bed. You want to go first?” he asked. Ellie shook her head.

“I can wait,” she said, sliding the patio door open with a hiss, “I ought to catch up on a bit of reading, anyway.”

She wasn’t lying, but she wasn’t exactly telling the whole truth either. Earlier that evening, Ellie had volunteered to take up “folding duty” instead of unpacking (laundry had never been one of Alan’s strong suits, so he didn’t mind). This meant that, thanks to her pickpocketing skills, she now possessed the mysterious letter.

Although she was ashamed of her lapse in integrity, she knew that this was the safest way to deal with the situation. If they were truly a team (and they were), there was no reason to keep important information from her. Then again, her little heist was even less forgivable on that front. Ellie gulped nervously. It was too late to back down now. Once she heard running water, Ellie quickly opened the letter (which was addressed to Alan) and began to read.

_We regret to inform you that you are the carrier of a potentially harmful virus. Due to repeated physical contact with the facility’s livestock, it is highly probable that the virus has been transmitted to yourself and other individuals who were directly exposed to the animals at the time of their decampment. As such, it is imperative that further diagnostic measures are put into effect, given the nature of the virus. While there is no proven danger for yourself or Mr. Malcolm, your associate, Dr. Sattler, is at high risk._

 

Ellie felt her pulse quicken. She continued reading.

_The effects of the virus are typically observed in mature females under 51 years of age and, due to Dr. Sattler’s close proximity to the nuclear fission plant beneath the island, her affliction is considered to be in the highest possible class of contamination. As such, the virus is unpredictable-_

 

With this, Ellie lowered the page. She didn’t need to know anymore, and she wished she hadn’t read it in the first place. She was about to put it away, but she remembered the handwritten text on the back. She flipped the page, unaware that the shower was no longer running.

Ellie had skimmed over most of the writing when she heard the door click. She realized too late that there was nowhere to hide the note on the unfurnished patio, so she shoved it into her pocket just as Alan stepped out of the bathroom. He didn’t seem to notice her distress right away, and she quickly dried her eyes before turning to greet him. She was still shaking when she closed the patio door behind her.

 

Later that night, Ellie dreamed that her friends were trapped in a tour van beside the tyrannosaur enclosure. She watched in horror as the beast escaped once more, sniffing its way around the crag and, by extension, the motionless car. Ellie tried to run toward the vehicle, but her feet were bolted to the ground. She could hear Alan and Ian shouting as the monster approached them. She turned her head just as the creature pushed the jeep over the cliff, sobbing frantically as her friends crashed into the canopy below. When she looked up, she came face-to-face with the mysterious pteranodon. Before she could react, it evaporated into a cloud of humming mosquitoes. They swarmed her, and-

Ellie stumbled out of bed. She could tell that she was going to be sick, and she didn’t want to vomit on the carpeted floor. To find her way in the dark room, Ellie slid her fingertips across the wall, trying to suppress her queasiness all the while. Once she opened the bathroom door, Ellie padded barefoot across the cold tiles and fell to her knees. She slammed the toilet lid open and threw up.

The noise woke Alan, who rushed to her aid. He held her hair while she convulsed, spewing putrid acid into the bowl. Once she calmed down, Ellie urged Alan to go back to sleep. He was reluctant, but she managed to convince him that it was probably a minor case of food poisoning. Too tired to press the issue further, Alan lumbered out of the bathroom and went back to sleep. Before joining him, Ellie brushed her teeth to rinse out the wretched taste. The water seemed sickeningly sweet after the sting of vomit, and she was slightly revolted by the minty flavor of her toothpaste. She had to stop herself from gagging, as she didn’t want to risk another puking spell. 

When she finally slid back under the covers, Alan asked once again if she was alright. She told him that she was fine. In reality, she was quite the opposite. Although she wanted to share her feelings with Alan, it was impossible to do so without blatantly stating that she had deliberately gone behind his back to seek out information that had been purposefully withheld from her. Now she knew why. 

Ellie wasn’t troubled by the fact that she was ill. Even though her situation sounded dire, she couldn’t care less about this unknown virus and its effects. What _really_ troubled her was the pretense that had been used to lure her to the island. She had been led to believe that Alan and Ian were in peril, but it simply wasn’t true . . .

Ellie rolled over to face the bedside table. The gentle glow of moonlight filtered through a glass of water, illuminating the wooden surface with crystalline patterns. She slowly rotated the glass with one hand, creating a silvery kaleidoscope on the wall. She dipped her index finger into the water absent-mindedly and placed a drop of water on the back of her other hand. It rolled off the thumb, landing on the carpet below.

What was she to do, now that she fully understood InGen’s intentions? She couldn’t let the others waste their time on the island . . . could she? No. It would be selfish to make them stay. It was _her_ fault that they had been dragged back to this god-forsaken theme park in the first place. The last thing she wanted was their blood on her hands if something went awry. She would have to tell Alan that she had read the note.

Then again, would he really leave her alone in such a strange place? The scribed dialogue didn’t seem to point either way.

_If Ellie’s in danger, why did you have to bring us along?_

_We couldn’t allow her to refuse our offer. As long as we lead her to believe that you are here by necessity, she will follow your example._   


But it wasn’t true! Ellie would have listened to Wu if he’d asked her to go alone. His excuse was ridiculous!

_Besides, we couldn’t risk any legal attention. As long as you know exactly what’s going on, you will have no reason to worry._   


Again, Ellie could have convinced Alan to keep quiet, especially if the alternative was bringing him to the island. Why didn’t anyone trust her? And why was it so important for Alan to know that she was safe (aside from the obvious reason, of course)?

Ellie thought back to all of the would-be slip-ups that she had prevented. Maybe Alan wasn’t entirely competent in the pact-of-nondisclosure realm. Even so, she couldn’t allow him to stay on her behalf. Unfortunately, it was possible that he had already decided to stick it out. Ian, however, might be persuaded to leave.

Ellie closed her eyes. One final question was burning in her mind, and it frightened her more than anything else in the world. Alan and Wu had ended their conversation on an ominous note, and the implications haunted Ellie to no end. She sat up in bed and reached under the mattress to retrieve the newly-hidden note. By now, Alan had probably noticed that it was missing, and it would be foolish to have it “magically reappear” in his pocket.

When she was sure that he was deeply asleep, Ellie unfolded the paper as quietly as possible. The ambiguity of Wu’s words was menacing, to say the least, but they implied so much more than what was written. 

She scanned the letter once or twice, then wedged it under the bed frame with a sense of finality. Whatever the case may be, it was entirely up to her to resolve it. Until she was ready to make a decision, those final words would have to wait. But what would she do until then? There was probably nothing she _could_ do to remedy the situation. She would have to wait and see . . .

Despite everything, falling asleep was easy for Ellie. She dozed off gently, and if she dreamed again that night, she certainly didn’t show it, even when it began to thunder outside. She slept through the chirping of the insects and hooting of the howler monkeys, she was unfazed by the wind that parted the grassy fields and the rain that rattled the palm trees . . .  


Most importantly, she remained blissfully unaware of the silent shadow that crept along the rim of the balcony, watching her as she lay sleeping.  


Between flashes of distant lightning, the figure opened the patio door with its long, hooked claws and stepped into the room. Had she been awake, Ellie might have noticed that the silhouette of the specter was not humanoid in the slightest. It was bird-shaped, and yet, it was too large to be an eagle and too small to be anything else. It bobbed its head as it crossed the room, stepping delicately over the loose items scattered across the floor. It paused when it saw a note tucked under the bed. Plucking it away with its mouth, the creature stared at the sheet with wide, unblinking eyes. One might have sworn that it was reading the note, and something in its posture seemed to confirm this ludicrous notion. Suddenly, its pupils began to glow with an eerie white light, illuminating its reptilian visage in an unsettling way. Its head was wide, with a flat, diamond-shaped snout and two slits for nostrils. Along its lips, tiny teeth jutted out in neat rows, curving up in a sort of sinister smile. 

The intruder froze momentarily, but broke out of its trance when one of the sleeping humans began to shift in bed. The creature dimmed its eyes, tucked the note into its resting place, and bolted out the door. As it climbed down the drainpipe on the hotel wall, the final words of the letter rang through its head.

_How long will we have to stay?_  
  


_For however long it takes._

_How long will THAT be?_

_You won’t be leaving any time soon._   


The creature chuckled.

  
Oh, how right he was.


	4. Conflict

Conflict

The morning after Ellie’s sick spell was unpleasant, to say the least. After waking up to the sound of heavy machinery, she found that the maintenance crew had decided that seven o’clock was an ideal time to repair the overgrown courtyard. The metallic racket was crisp and clear, mostly because of the amplifying effect of the concrete by the open patio door (which was odd: hadn’t she closed it the night before?). Through the shrill beep of a reversing truck, Ellie could hear a man yelling at the top of his lungs. She got out of bed to examine the situation.

After nearly tripping over a stray belt (she would have to chastise Alan for that later), she stepped out onto the patio, which was still slick with rainwater. From the edge of the balcony, Ellie could see the construction crew working directly beneath her, including the angry man, who looked like he had come straight out of a war movie. Although he was wearing casual attire, his flaxen buzz cut and sharp features gave him a military air, and his enthusiastic shouting only reinforced the image. Had she been any closer, Ellie might have expected him to be wearing a dog tag.

As he barked at his coworkers, the man began to throw his arms in the air, and it wasn’t long before he turned beet-red. It was difficult to make out exactly what he was saying, but it was clear that he was directing most of his anger at one specific person. By some odd coincidence (or perhaps a predictable misstep), the victim of his invective just so happened to be the blonde scientist. After eavesdropping for a few minutes, Ellie gleaned some interesting information.

The woman, whose last name was either Kavelbronsky or Koborovski (the man used both), had taken issue with the uncovered pool, as several small dinosaurs were suffering from chlorine poisoning after drinking the unsupervised water. This had resulted in a fit of name-calling (i.e. hippie, beatnik), and eventually, a shouting contest. Clearly, the man (Yannick, apparently) didn’t fully agree with her viewpoints. He was glad to be rid of the “little pests”, as he put it, and he even went so far as to suggest a cull. This evolved into a full-fledged argument about their role in the ecosystem and, for a scientist who had been caught feeding the dinosaurs the previous day, the blonde woman seemed to be totally against human intervention. She backed down, however, when Yannick threatened to call her supervisor.

It was a disconcerting finale, and Ellie sensed that the debate was far from over. Either way, it didn’t concern her. Besides, she had had _far_ too much experience with opposing ideologies during her last visit. There was no need to get involved again.

When Ellie reentered the bedroom (making sure to close the door tightly this time), Alan began to wake up. He had never been a morning person like Ellie, and the jet lag wasn’t doing him any favors. It took him three tries to reach his watch on the bedside table, and putting it on was nothing short of a struggle. The state of his motor coordination indicated that his cerebellum had turned to silly putty. His eyes opened and closed independently of each other, mostly half-lidded, though he would sometimes raise an eyebrow to compensate. He was quite amusing to watch, but Ellie felt badly about waking him up in the middle of the night. It was hard to be quiet while spewing like a super-soaker.

As Alan stepped out of bed, Ellie began to dress. Now that they were both awake, she wanted to be ready by eight. The physical exam and inoculation session would begin at nine, which would give them enough time for breakfast beforehand. Of course, they would have to wait for Ian . . .

Right on cue, there was a crash in the other room, followed by a muffled stream of obscenity.

“Good morning, Ian,” Alan shouted sarcastically.

“Oh, shit. Did I wake you guys up?” he replied through the door.

“Oh, no. Don’t worry about it. We were already awake. Are you okay?” Ellie asked.

“Yeah, but I think the lamp is in critical condition. Is yours shaped like a brontosaurus too?”

“Apatosaurus,” Ellie and Alan chimed in simultaneously.

“Same thing.”

“It really isn’t,” Alan said, opening the connecting door.

Over Alan’s shoulder, Ellie could see the lamp lying on the ground, broken beyond repair. Ian (who was dressed in an unflattering pair of striped pajamas) was dragging the waste basket across the floor. Ellie and Alan volunteered to help him clean up the scene of the crime.

As they swept up the jagged porcelain fragments, there was a knock at the door. Ellie stood up to answer it. She found Wu standing in the hallway with a clipboard under his arm and a pleasant smile upon his face. 

“Good morning, Dr. Sattler,” he said, bowing his head slightly.

“And to you too, Dr. Wu,” Ellie replied.

“Are you ready for breakfast?”

“Actually, we were just about to leave.”

She looked over her shoulder to assess the cleanup progress. There was still a thin layer of powder on the carpet, and the men were doing a terrible job of rubbing it out.

“Um, we need to stay a little longer, I think. You see, the lamp-”

“Gorgeous, aren’t they? Each one is hand-painted by members of the local Bribri tribe. They cost us quite a bundle.”

“Did they?” Ellie asked with a wobble in her voice.

“Oh, yes. Now, are you ready to come downstairs, or shall we wait until-”

“Breakfast sounds nice, actually,” Ellie said hurriedly as she blocked his view. “Why don’t you walk me down? We’ll let the others catch up later.”

She guided Wu away from the doorway, smiling anxiously at Alan, who nodded and went back to work.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

As Ellie followed Wu down the hallway, she began to regret her decision to leave the group. Wu wasn’t a very talkative host, and he walked so briskly that Ellie had to hop slightly to keep up. Although she considered asking him about the virus or the park, Ellie figured her situation didn’t need the extra level of awkwardness. She kept her eyes to the ground and trailed behind him submissively, tracing the carpet’s design in her mind’s eye.

As they approached the elevators, Wu rounded the corner sharply, walking straight into a frazzled scientist. By a matter of extraordinary coincidence, it happened to be the blonde woman. She noticed that Wu had dropped his clipboard and bent over to pick it up. Unfortunately, she grabbed it by the top of the clip. As she held it out to him, the papers slid to the floor in a messy heap. She froze, and her eyes darted back and forth nervously.

“Please don’t fire me,” she said simply.

Wu rolled his eyes.

“I’m not going to fire you, Robin, but I think it would be best if you stayed out of the way for a bit. We have a guest.”

“Who? Oh, is this the plant lady?”

“Paleobotanist. Ellie Sattler.”

Ellie smiled and prepared to greet the scientist.

“Right, right,” she said, ignoring Ellie’s extended hand, “Listen, while you’re here, can I ask you a favor?”

“What kind of favor?”

Robin tucked a curl of hair behind her ear and shifted her weight nervously.

“It’s about Yannick-”

“Listen, Robin, we can’t do anything about his attitude-”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that!”

“Whatever it is, it will have to wait-”

“I promise it won’t take long!”

Wu rubbed his temples.

“Fine, go ahead,” he said, waving his hand half-heartedly.

“He keeps getting my name wrong.”

“And?”

“And we’ve been working together for almost five years! He’s been calling me Kittlaussiri, Kolodinsky, Kephalonomancy . . .”

“Well, what’s your real name?” Ellie offered.

“Smith.”

Wu exhaled calmly.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Just try not to cause any trouble, okay?”

“What if-”

He pointed at her aggressively.

“No. Trouble.”

She sniffed with indignation. 

“Fine,” Robin muttered, “It was nice meeting you, Dr. Sattler.”

Ellie watched in silence as she stormed off. Wu turned to her and smiled.

“I apologize for Dr. Smith’s misconduct. She doesn’t always get along with our head engineer. I would have laid them off long ago, but they seem to work well individually.”

As they began their descent in the elevator, Wu continued to excuse the poor behavior of his staff. The more he tried to justify their actions, the more Ellie began to worry. It was clear that Jurassic Park was still operating on a secretive, irresponsible, uncontrolled platform, but things had gotten much worse. Despite the extra security, some of the overlooked details did not sit right with Ellie. 

Apparently, Wu was now the highest authority on site, which explained the ways in which he was addressed by fellow employees. It was reasonable to assume that Hammond was either busy with paperwork or, as Wu had said, too sick to run the park, but Ellie couldn’t fully accept that explanation. There was a big difference between classified information and outright lies, and she had been purposefully misled by Wu and his associates. Something was _deeply_ wrong with this scenario.

Wu exited the elevator and marched across the hotel lobby with Ellie following close behind. There were no distinctly hotel-ish staff present (except for a maid or two), but the necessary roles seemed to have been taken up by the trademark employees. The reception desk, however, was unmanned, and the guest services booth was no different. Aside from a few employees who had made the hotel their temporary abode, Ellie and her companions were the only guests on site.

With this, another inconsistency popped into mind. If there was no need to satisfy tourists, why would the construction crew be sent to repair the pool area? In her mind’s eye, Ellie pictured the scene from earlier that morning. From a distance, it was difficult to get a sense of the general project (and she hadn’t been paying much attention to the workers anyway), but it was clear that the area had nothing to do with research or security. On top of that, the pool was still functional. If the water was indeed chlorinated, someone _must_ be using the facility on a regular basis. She wondered who it might be . . .

Maybe she could ask Wu. There was no obvious risk associated with that particular question, was there?

“Dr. Wu-”

“Henry.”

“Okay, er, Henry. I noticed that some of your personnel are working around the pool area. Is it being used by anyone in particular?”

Wu smiled.

“You’re free to take a swim, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Oh, uh- Actually, I was just wondering why it’s being repaired,” she stuttered.

“We keep the recreational facilities in good condition for staff use,” he explained with a hint of uncertainty.

They were outside the hotel now, and Ellie could feel the pebbles crunching beneath her shoes as they walked down the dirt pathway towards the Visitors’ Center. The building was barely visible beneath the dense foliage, which had grown taller during Ellie’s absence. The conical rooftops hardly peeked over the canopy, and their beige tint was the only distinct feature that separated them from the living plants. The jungle was beginning to overtake InGen’s infrastructure, it seemed.

Wu slowed down.

“Dr. Sattler-”

 “Ellie.”

“Fair enough. Ellie, I know this is a lot to take in, especially after so long . . . Forgive me for being so vague, but-”

He stopped walking.

“Is something wrong?”

Wu shook his head.

“No, not entirely . . . I just- Listen, you aren’t going to like what I have to say. I can’t even begin to imagine how much you must loathe this place, but . . . our investors still hope to see the park up and running.”

He waited for her reaction, but she didn’t provide any visible change in posture.

“Are you upset? . . .” he prompted.

Was she? It was difficult to describe what she felt.

“No, I’m not upset,” she began, “I’m just . . . confused. I don’t know how you plan to run a place like this, not when everything looks like a high-security prison. It seems to me that your staff are not properly coordinated, and with this whole virus issue . . . I just don’t understand.”

Wu listened patiently. Ellie wasn’t sure that he knew how to answer her questions, let alone provide a reasonable excuse for the park’s reconstruction. He frowned thoughtfully and fiddled with his clipboard. Ellie guessed that he was deciding how much information he could disclose in her presence. She hoped that he would decide to tell her the whole story, but she expected nothing more than another vague response. 

Finally, he raised his eyebrows and spoke calmly.

“The virus shouldn’t be a problem. We’re well on our way to achieving total control of its properties, which will be immensely beneficial to our cause. As for the threat of another incident . . . Well, we’ve taken every precaution to ensure that we are prepared if something drastic should occur.”

Wu changed his tone of voice. He seemed pensive. Dazed, even.

“The real problem the first time around was the unpredictability of carnivorous theropods, you see. Aside from a few minor issues with the herbivores, most of our trouble was predator-related. I strongly believe that we can control them with the help of this virus-”

Okay, _now_ she was upset.

“Nothing’s changed, has it?” she asked with disbelief, “You’re still obsessed with control, but you can’t possibly suppress the instincts of living organisms, and especially not the carnivores, of all things!”

“We won’t have to.”

“How can you possibly-”

Wu put his hands on Ellie’s shoulders. She flinched, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Dr. Sattler . . . Ellie . . . you’re going to have to trust me. There is a way to make this work. It wouldn’t be wise to tell you what I have planned- Well, not yet, anyway- but you’ll see . . . I have everything under control.”

Ellie began to refute Wu’s callow assertions, but she quickly lowered her voice when she noticed Alan and Ian strolling down the road. Once again, she would have to push this conversation to the side, along with all of the other problems she hadn’t yet resolved.

So much for her managerial skills. 

Still, before the day was through, Ellie was determined to at least speak with Ian about leaving the island. Once she had dealt with _that_ , she had a new objective to pursue. With so many questions left unanswered, there was only one person whom Ellie could rely upon. If Wu wasn’t going to help her, she would have to pull out the big guns.  


Ellie was going to contact John Hammond.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

As soon as they finished breakfast, Ellie struggled to find the time to be alone but, try as she might, it seemed impossible. The group headed straight for the clinic after their meal, and there was no time to dawdle when they arrived. After filling out a myriad of forms, they were inoculated with a rather painful syringe to immunize themselves against dinosaur venom. The saggy-faced nurse tried to catch Ellie off guard by counting to two instead of three, but it only made her arm tense up at the unexpected contact. The pressure was hard to take, but it didn’t last long.

As she drew the needle from Ellie’s arm, the nurse handed her a cotton ball to soak up the blood. Ellie pressed it gingerly against her skin and hobbled over to Ian, who was sitting dejectedly in the corner with a cotton ball of his own. 

“Did she trick you too?” he asked sardonically.

Ellie nodded.

“Yeah, I hate it when they do that. It’s _dishonest_ , is what it is.”

Ellie gave a noncommittal hum.

“You okay?”

“I read the letter.”

She didn’t mean to blurt it out so suddenly, but there it was. Ian was temporarily caught off guard by her bluntness. There was no doubt, however, that he knew _exactly_ what she was talking about. 

“Did Alan-”

“No,” she said tersely, “He didn’t.”

Ian nodded and ran his fingers through his hair. Ellie took a deep breath and went on.

“Look, it doesn’t matter what the two of you decided. I know about it now, and that’s the end of it.”

“But we-”

“Ian, please! Just listen, okay? This is important.”

Ellie tried desperately to keep her voice from breaking, but she could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke. Seeing her distress, Ian made no further attempt to interrupt her. He slumped back into his chair and listened patiently.

“You . . . You don’t have to be here. I don’t want to make you stay. It’s- it’s not fair.” 

Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t hold back the tears. Once the first drop slid down her cheek, it was game over. Ellie could hear her voice quivering, but she went on nonetheless.

“You should be at home with your friends and- and your family . . . Go home, Ian. This is the worst place to be.”

When it became clear that she couldn’t go on, Ian dropped his cotton ball and looked her straight in the eyes. Ellie had never seen him look sincere before, yet he was presently showing no signs of sarcasm or disdain. It was quite alarming. 

“Hey, don’t you worry about me,” he said gently, “I’m already _with_ my friends, and I’m not leaving either of you alone on this island.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Ellie sniffed.

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not giving you a choice, then,” Ian replied stubbornly.

Before she could protest, Ian reverted back to his regular posture and crossed his legs.

“Besides, I get a free vacation out of this. I’m not about to pass up the opportunity to enjoy an all-inclusive hotel.”

It wasn’t a particularly funny quip, even by Ian’s standards, but Ellie found herself laughing through her tears. She laughed even harder when they attempted a bear-hug, only to find that their arms were still very sore from the vaccine.

Alan, who had just finished with the nurse, lumbered away from the table, rubbing his arm humbly. When Ellie waved him over, he saw that her eyes were red and puffy.

“Oh, Ellie! Are you hurt? Did the nurse-”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she said, laughing, “I’m just a little . . . hormonal.”

He didn’t ask any more questions after that.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After being dragged around the health center for an hour or two, Ellie finally found her chance to break away from the group. While Alan and Ian were busy with their physical examination, she asked the nurse where to find the closest pay phones. She snuck out of the room and placed a call with the emergency contact number that Hammond had given her many months before. It wasn’t the first time she had used it, in fact, she practically knew the number by heart. It was a good thing too, or else she would have been hooped in this particular situation.

Ellie lifted the phone to her ear, twirling the cord with one finger. She glanced at the clinic door every few seconds to make sure that she was not being followed. No one seemed to notice that she was missing. Odd. 

After a few dial tones, Ellie heard a familiar voice through mild static.

“Hello?”

“Hi, John! It’s me: Ellie.”

“Oh, hello, my dear! It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? Are you well?” he barked jovially.

Ellie was no medical doctor, but she thought that Hammond sounded awfully energetic for an ailing man.

“I’m . . . fine. But I heard you were sick . . .” she prompted.

“Sick? No, far from it. Who told you I was sick?” he asked, puzzled.

Ellie paused. Was it wise to tell Hammond that his head bioengineer had lied to her?

“Well, um . . . I don’t remember who it was, exactly. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about this virus everyone’s been telling me about-”

“Ah, yes. I thought you might be aware of it by now. You needn’t worry. As long as you avoid strong electrical stimulation- and I don’t think you’ll have a problem with that, being the clever girl you are- you won’t show any symptoms.”

“How do I know I’m not _already_ showing symptoms?” 

Hammond laughed heartily.

“Trust me: you’d know it, if you were.”

Ellie bit her lip.

“You’ll be fine, I promise,” he said, softening his voice, “However, if you’re _really_ concerned, we could have you looked at by professionals. I know a handful of reliable doctors who can fully diagnose you- confidentially, of course, if you don’t mind . . .”

“Really? That’d be great!” Ellie said brightly, “I would _love_ to have a professional opinion, if that’s alright with you. Just between you and me, I don’t think the nurse here knows what she’s doing.”

Hammond paused.

“What nurse? . . . Are you at a hospital?”

“Yes- Well, no. It’s really more of a clinic . . . Hang on . . . Shouldn’t you _know_ all of this?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about, my dear.”

Ellie froze.

“John . . . Did you send Henry Wu to speak with us?”

“Henry Wu? No, no, of course not. I couldn’t send him if I wanted to.”

Ellie’s hand began to tremble.

“What do you mean? Why couldn’t you send him, John?”

“Well, it’s hardly my jurisdiction now,” he said dolefully.

“Why not?” 

“Wh- Didn’t you get my letter? I thought- Oh, never mind. It’s better I tell you over the phone, I suppose.”

“Tell me? Tell me what?”

“Well, as of last week, I no longer own Jurassic Park.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ian Malcolm stepped onto the Health-o-meter scale and watched as the nurse slid two bobbles across the pole. When she was satisfied with her measurements, she grunted and wrote something down on her clipboard.

“One hundred and forty-five pounds,” she announced unenthusiastically. Ian winced and rubbed the back of his neck. This was bad news. 

Ian had lost a significant amount of weight over the last few months, and it was beginning to show. He’d even venture that he had dropped almost twenty pounds in two years, roughly speaking. Although he had packed on a bit of weight during his initial recovery (T-Rex bites didn’t heal overnight, after all), his second year on the mainland had been particularly harrowing, to say the least. Ever since he had infringed the nondisclosure agreement (a fact that he had neglected to tell Ellie, for obvious reasons), InGen had been furiously undermining his attempts to reveal the true nature of the Isla Nublar incident. First, they took his public credibility. Next, they took his post at U of T. Finally, they took what was left of his reputation and crushed it like a . . . like a . . .  


Like a brontosaurus lamp.  


Because of his constant head-butting with InGen, Ian had a decent understanding of the series of events that had taken place after the disaster. Although Hammond had convinced the government to spare the island from military destruction, his obsession with secrecy had cost him his company. Without the support of his former investors, Hammond had no hope of salvaging the park, and he wasn’t keen to tell anyone else about the “local wildlife”, as it were. At the peak of their financial entanglements, the company had almost been bought out by Biosyn, but they had bounced back just in time. Well, it was less “bouncing back” and more “delaying the inevitable”. There was no doubt that InGen would eventually be forced to shut down, especially if they continued to knit their web of lies. 

Based on his observations, Ian suspected that Alan and Ellie knew even less about this whole operation than he did, and that was saying a lot. If he had to guess, he’d say that they didn’t even know that Peter Ludlow was the new proprietor of InGen.

At least they were on good terms with Hammond.

That had to count for something, right?

To be honest, as much as Ian disagreed with Hammond’s principles, he couldn’t deny that the man was (at least) emotionally invested in his work. The problem with Ludlow was that he had no sentimentality to balance his entrepreneurial ambition. Ludlow’s so-called “promotion” was the direct result of a long history with InGen, though he hadn’t tried to (openly) overthrow his uncle until very recently. Ian was all too familiar with the man; he had been at the helm of the S.S. Let’s-Destroy-Ian-Malcolm ship. For this reason, Ian now hoped to prove himself sane by gathering evidence on the island. Security was tight, however, and it was beginning to look like a lost cause. 

If there was one scrap of consolation to be found in all of this, it was that Ludlow’s power over the island was limited. Although he held the metaphorical deed to the park, he didn’t have any say in how it would be run. Unfortunately, Ian had caught wind of a rumor that told of another piece of property that may be in his jurisdiction, though he couldn’t imagine what it might be. He hoped to god that it wasn’t another dinosaur island.

Whatever the case may be, Wu was Top Dog on Isla Nublar now, and nobody was about to replace him.

Without warning, Ellie burst through the clinic door. She looked so incredibly panicked that Ian’s first thought was that she had encountered a wild dinosaur. 

“Alan, Ian, we’re leaving. Now!” she shouted, grabbing them by the arms.

“What’s going on? We’re not ready to leave!” Alan protested.

“There’s no time to argue! We’ve been lied to! We need to find Wu!”

Alan’s eyes went wide.

“You know about the disease, don’t you?”

“No! Well, yes. But this is something different, something _worse_.”

“Hang on, just calm down,” Ian said, holding up his palms defensively, “What are you talking about?”

“John Hammond doesn’t own the park anymore. InGen has been taken over by his nephew, P-”

“Peter Ludlow. Yeah, got it. Is that all?”

By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

“You KNEW?” Ellie shrieked.

“Well, uh . . .”

“What’s she talking about, Ian?” Alan asked darkly.

“Well, I knew, but I didn’t think it was important!”

“ _Of course_ it’s important! How could it _not_ be important?!” Ellie spat.

“Calm down, Ellie, it’s not Ian’s fault.”

“There, you see?” Ian said, pointing at Alan with both hands, “ _He_ gets it.”

“He can’t help it if he’s a total moron,” Alan finished.

“WHAT?”

“Oh, don’t you go acting all high-and-mighty! _You’re_ the one who refused to tell me that I could have gone alone!” Ellie snapped.

The nurse, who had been watching their argument with confusion, waddled out of the room to find reinforcements.

“I didn’t want you to get hurt . . .”

“I don’t _need_ your protection, Alan! I’m not just your sidekick, you know! I’m a _real_ person, with _real_ credentials!”

“I never said-”

“You don’t _need_ to say anything! I know what people think of me! Nobody cares about the stupid little paleobotanist who works with the ‘almighty’ Dr. Grant! It’s not like we ever agreed to be a _team_ or anything . . . RIGHT?!”

“Will you two stop arguing?” Ian groaned, “Yes, we lied to each other, but now we’re on the same level.”

“Oh, shut up, Ian! You don’t have a real career either!” Ellie barked.

Ian was starting to lose it.

“Well, not anymore, thanks to you guys! Remember when I asked you to back me up if I ever told anyone about Jurassic Park? Well, guess what: I did it anyway! So now we all know that Ellie’s sick, InGen is owned by some Randy, and Ian Malcolm is a laughingstock! Am I forgetting anything?”

“You broke your nondisclosure agreement?” Alan gasped.

“Yeah, so what?”

“Well, that’s not _our_ fault, Ian!” Ellie snapped, “We thought you were just kidding around! You know why? BECAUSE YOU TREAT EVERYTHING LIKE IT’S A JOKE!”

“You want a joke? Here’s a good one! What do you call a temperamental paleobotanist who has no sense of humor?”

“Ian, don’t you dare . . .” Alan growled threateningly.

“Sattler-nine!”

“Alright, break it up, all of you!” shouted an unfamiliar voice.

The nurse had returned with a burly blonde man and a female scientist. They didn’t look happy.

“As a fully certified employee of InGen, I must insist-”

“Shut up, Robin!”

“Why don’t YOU shut up, you big buffoon!”

“Wench!”

“Fascist!”

And with that, the room erupted into chaos.

While the trio continued to argue, Robin and the burly man wrestled on the floor, shouting insults as they slapped each other into oblivion. The nurse was rocking back and forth in the corner, hugging her knees and praying in Spanish. The volume continued to rise, as did the arm-gnawing and hair-pulling.

“I’ll kill you, you tree-hugger!”

“Eat my fist, you knock-kneed charlatan!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ellie, I thought you were perfectly fine!”

“Do I LOOK fine?!”

“Dios mío, líbrame de esta gente loca . . .”

“-waiting to have children, but it’s been two years-”

“Fetid crumbum!”

“-under a lot of stress, it’s not my fault-”

“CRAP-WEASEL!”

“POOP-RAT!”

“-poseídos por espíritus malignos-”

“-lost my job, but you’re still working-”

“GARBAGE-BREATH!”

“-lied to me, you’re no better than InGen-”

“LET GO OF MY LEG!”

“Forget it! I’m not putting up with another-”

“Oh, Dios! Ella está mordiendo la rodilla de ese hombre!”

“That’s my elbow, you wh-”

“-stupid chaos theory-”

“OUCH!”

“You fight like a girl!”

“I AM a girl! You fight-”

“You know, if we can’t even-”

“-dejar de luchar-”

“-like a bunch of schoolgirls-”

“-maybe it’s best if we just-”

“-split up!”

And in that moment, everything seemed to freeze in a tableau of epiphanic shock. The wrestling scientists screeched to a halt, the nurse started to cry, Ellie and Alan glared at each other hatefully, and Ian gave up his peacekeeping endeavors.

Then, one by one, they began to realize the severity of their situation.

Robin, who had been strangling the engineer with an IV cord, jumped away from the machine in fear, shivering at the horror of what she had done. After a minute, the man stood up dizzily and wiped his bloody nose. Once they were both on their feet, they backed away from each other slowly, panting like wolves. After exchanging one last fiery scowl, they retreated to two separate doors, closing them simultaneously. After a second, Robin reopened the door to the supply closet and found a real exit. The nurse whimpered and jumped out the window, slamming it shut as she went.

Alan, Ellie, and Ian were now alone in the room. Ian still had his hands up in a position of preemptive defense, even though it was no longer needed. Once Alan and Ellie realized what had been said, their expressions shifted dramatically. Alan seemed hurt and confused, while Ellie looked fraught with guilt. Ian lowered his arms slowly, not wanting to interfere with their conflict.

“Ellie . . .”

“I didn’t mean it, Alan. You _know_ I didn’t.”

He didn’t respond.

“I, uh- I don’t think any of us meant what we said . . .” Ian began.

“What the hell happened here?!”

Uh-oh.

“Hello, Dr. Wu! We didn’t hear you come in. This isn’t the greatest time-” Ian babbled.

“I can see that. Perhaps you can explain to me why our nurse is worried about- How did she put it? Right. _A group of crazy scientists with violent tendencies_.”

“Uh . . . Well, actually-”

“It was _my_ fault.”

Wu turned to Alan.

“Explain.”

“I told Ellie about the letter you gave me, and it upset her. We got a bit carried away-”

“Were you violent with each other?”

“What? No, that wasn’t us,” Ellie piped up.

“Well, who was it?”

“I’ll, uh, take the blame here. I may have egged on a couple of scientists-”

“Robin and Yannick?”

“How did you know?” Ellie asked.

“Lucky guess,” he grumbled tersely, “I’ll have to have a word with them later. As for _you_ three . . .”

“We just need to sort a few things out, honest!” Ellie pleaded.

Wu narrowed his eyes.

“See that you do.”

And without so much as a nod or a wave, he was gone. 

The group sat in silence. No one knew what to say after such a brutal argument. They had flat out insulted each other . . . and worse. Ian hoped that the damage wasn’t irreparable. 

“Maybe we should go back to the hotel,” he suggested slowly. Ellie nodded, lowering her eyes to the ground. Alan said nothing.

They stepped over the tangled IV cord as they left the clinic, marching solemnly in single file. No one exchanged a word, though their minds were certainly abuzz with various conflicting emotions. The three of them kept their heads bowed, even when they were greeted by staff along the road. The uphill trek was not unlike a wake, Ian thought. 

When they reached the hotel, he offered to leave Alan and Ellie alone. They declined, much to his surprise. He followed them into the elevator, where they fell silent once more. Ellie pressed the button marked “9”, and they began their ascent.

It was not a pleasant ride.

The elevator’s cheerful “ding” went unnoticed by the three guests, who made their way to the lounge as soon as the doors slid open. Once there, they each dragged an armchair towards the center of the room to form a triangle. They sat down and stared at each other with a businesslike air.

“So,” Ellie began, “Let’s talk.”


	5. Reconciliation

Reconciliation

Alan was afraid. He had been expecting some sort of disaster to occur, but _this_? . . . This was not even close to what he’d imagined. Of all the things that could go wrong on an island populated by dinosaurs, who could guess that the first major conflict would stem from a misunderstanding? 

No. That wasn’t right. It was more like a “barrage of unanticipated truths”. Maybe honesty WASN’T the best policy.

Alan suspected that a large percentage of human interaction was heavily dependent on deceit and ambiguity. People were somehow expected to maintain a certain level of neutrality towards unpleasant situations, even if it made no sense to do so. If someone asked you how you were, you’d say “Fine, thank you.”, no matter how awful your day had been. If you criticized someone’s personality traits, you were expected to balance it out with a compliment, and so on.

In this way, most people tried to appease each other by lacing their opinions with innocent fibs, never thinking twice about the long-term consequences of their actions. It was like repairing a dam with plywood: the long-forgotten details would suddenly make a huge difference in a real disaster. Alan had witnessed the metaphorical demolition firsthand.

It was almost miraculous how a person could suddenly list off every single annoyance they had experienced over the past few years during a fight. Alan wasn’t one hundred percent sure that Ellie was genuinely angry with him, but some of the issues she had brought up were disturbingly specific. The real question was: did the sum of these parts negate the positive side of their relationship?

He certainly hoped not.

For some reason, Alan was often labeled as the “gruff” or “impassive” type. While he wasn’t exactly a lovey-dovey kind of guy, he wasn’t quite apathetic either, though he sometimes entertained that notion to keep up appearances. Even now, Alan tried to give the impression that he was completely secure, but he could feel his control slipping away whenever he made eye contact with Ellie. She looked mortified, and it was disconcerting as hell, given her usual disposition. 

Alan felt sick to his stomach. He knew that he had done wrong by her, not just because he had lied, but because in doing so, he had disrespected their partnership (in more ways than one). He wasn’t sure Ellie could forgive him this time . . .

“Okay, first of all, I would like to say that I shouldn’t have blamed you two for refusing to support my nondisclosure scheme. Besides, it was- what? Two years ago? Yeah, so that’s, uh- wait, am I still not allowed to say ‘uh’?”

“It’s fine, Ian,” Alan sighed.

“If you say so. Anyway, that’s ancient history. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t mention it,” Alan said, “It’s water under the bridge. However, since we seem to be apologizing now, I’d just like to say that I’m sorry for everything I said, even before the fight. It was wrong to lie-”

“Oh! That reminds me: I forgot to apologize for not telling you about Ludlow,” Ian added.

“We forgive you, Ian.” Alan said brusquely, “As I was saying, I’m sorry for being unsupportive-”

“Wait! I just remembered another one!”

Alan rubbed his temples.

“Go ahead, Ian,” he grumbled impatiently.

“I’m sorry for taking the shampoo from your room without asking . . . and for not telling you about it until now,” he said with a touch of remorse.

“Anything else?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry for calling you a grumpy old man.”

“You never said that . . .”

“I didn’t? Hm. In that case, I’m done,” Ian said, slumping back into his chair.

Once he was sure that Ian had finished, Alan resumed his apology. Although he was addressing both of his friends, it was clear that the message was implicitly directed at Ellie in particular.

“I shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss your opinions, especially since we’re supposed to be a team. I know I can be stoic at times, but it’s only because I want to seem bold. The truth is, I’m just as frightened as you are, maybe even more so. As much as I’d like to think that I have things under control, I’m not qualified to take charge in a life-or-death situation, and it was wrong of me to make decisions for you. I’m sorry.”

After a second, Ellie cleared her throat.

“I guess it’s my turn,” she began uneasily, “I’m sorry for yelling at you two. It was foolish of me to blame you, especially since you were only trying to help . . . Most of all, I want you to know that I didn’t mean any of the things I said.”

She turned to Alan.

“ANY of them.”

Alan gave an internal sigh of relief.

“We were all assholes today,” Ian concluded.

Despite the oddness of his remark, Alan and Ellie nodded in agreement.

“In the future, I think we should just go ahead and tell each other if we discover something important,” Ellie suggested.

“Good idea. I think I’ve told you guys everything. Alan?”

“I have no new information,” he replied, “How about you, Ellie? You spent an awful lot of time with Wu this morning. Did he have anything interesting to say?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. According to Wu, InGen’s investors are keen to rebuild Jurassic Park. I saw some workers renovating the rotunda next to the pool, so I asked about it, and-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second,” Ian interjected.

Alan could tell that Ellie was afraid that she had said something wrong. She shrunk back into her armchair like a snail, bracing herself for another fight.

“You never said they had a pool . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“No, Ian, the parasaurolophus is NOT a carnivore,” Alan groaned with frustration.

“You sure? ‘Cuz I’ll bet it could stab you in the gut with its horn.”

“Crest, Ian. Parasaurolophus has a CREST.”

Alan turned to Ellie for assistance. She shrugged helplessly. 

Ian had convinced them to take a late-night dip in the pool to ease their nerves. There was quite a bit of protest at first (mostly from Alan, who did not particularly enjoy aquatic activities), but Ian was adamant. After borrowing waterwear from the lobby, they had padded across the courtyard and jumped into the pool (well, Ellie had dived in with Ian, but they eventually managed to drag Alan along with them). Now, Alan and Ian were going over dinosaur trivia while Ellie meandered back and forth along the perimeter of the pool, practicing a wide variety of strokes and paddles.

“And what about this trew . . . trew-den?”

Alan snorted.

“For once, I would have accepted an ‘uh’. It’s pronounced troh-uh-dawn. And yes: it’s a carnivore. If it’s bipedal, it’s probably not friendly.”

“That makes things easy. Four legs good, two legs bad. Perfect! So what about this . . . what was it called? Cephalopod? . . . Pachydermosaurus? . . . The dome-head. Does it bash you in the gut before it eats you?”

“No, that one’s an herbivore,” Alan explained.

“But you said-”

“Look, let’s just assume that all dinosaurs are dangerous, okay?” Alan croaked, “To be honest, I wouldn’t trust the herbivores either. Remember our talk with Dr. Harding way back when? According to him, the trikes charged anything that got too close, including jeeps.”

“Shit! I knew I’d heard that name before!” Ian exclaimed, slapping the water with one hand, “I didn’t want to believe it . . .”

“What are you talking about?” Alan asked, hoping to make some sense of Ian’s ramblings.

“Oh, uh . . . Nothing,” he responded timidly.

Alan frowned.

“I thought we agreed to tell each other everything,” he chided reproachfully. 

Ian shook his head.

“It’s none of your business. Really, it’s private,” he insisted, “You wouldn’t be interested.”

“Ian . . .”

“Fine, fine. You win. I don’t want you to think that I’m keeping something from you.”

“And? . . .”

Ian took a deep breath.

“There’s this girl-”

“Ooooooh!” Ellie hooted playfully.

“Very mature. Anyway, she came to me while I was recovering from . . . you know . . . and I told her everything. She wanted to know if the rumors were true.”

“And? . . .” Ellie prompted.

“I think I found my future Ex-Mrs. Malcolm,” Ian said with an oily grin.

“Awww, that’s so sweet . . . I think . . .” Ellie gushed.

“Some men never learn,” Alan sighed.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little ‘adventuring’, if you know what I mean,” Ian countered roguishly.

“Ian, you’ve had enough adventuring to last a lifetime,” Ellie giggled.

“Not true, not true! If there’s one thing to be drawn from chaos theory, it’s that you should never expect a simple result from a complex system,” he proclaimed with an air of pompous sophistication.

“I thought you were done with chaos,” Alan remarked slyly.

“Yeah, but I don’t have to forget everything I’ve learned. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know basic algebra.”

“One Ian plus too many women equals trouble!” Ellie twittered as she paddled past.

“Maybe you can womanize in another dimension, just to be sure that you haven’t missed anyone. I’ll bet that even the laws of reality won’t stop ‘The Insatiable Ian Malcolm’,” Alan quipped.

“Very funny.”

Ellie stopped paddling and trod water.

“You never really explained your new theory, Ian. If it’s as crazy as you make it out to be, I think we’d all like to hear it.”

Ian flourished his hands elegantly.

“Alas, dear Ellie. It is a tale of great proportions, spanning the very fabric of time and space-”

“Okay, Ian, we get the idea. No need to be melodramatic,” Alan huffed.

“Alright, alright. Basically, it’s this: there’s a plethora of worlds that coexist alongside our own: some similar, some drastically different. There are constants, of course, but countless variables, as well.”

“Constants?” Alan queried sarcastically.

“Yeah, you know, things that hold a certain same-ness. For instance, there would be a billion InGens, but in some worlds they might have mutant dinosaurs or bright purple raptors or mammoths . . .”

“Mammoths? How could you breed a _mammoth_ on a tropical island?” Alan asked patronizingly.

“Well, I don’t know . . .” Ian stuttered, “Maybe they could test it on polar bears first.”

“And could these polar bears talk in some worlds? Would they have jobs? Would they wear clothing?” Ellie jested.

“Hardly,” Ian snuffed indignantly, “They could wear scarves or helmets, maybe . . .”

“Armored bears? What’s next? Cat warriors? Guardian owls?” Alan hypothesized.

“Sentient bats?” Ellie shouted from across the pool.

“Okay, maybe not _that_ crazy, but I’ll bet some worlds could have wacky contraptions.”

“Such as? . . .”

“I don’t know. Floating buildings. Guns that shoot portals . . .”

“Robots?” Ellie suggested.

Alan laughed.

“Those already exist. They’re called temp agents.”

“Was that a joke, Alan?” Ian babbled, “Not bad, considering your sh-”

Alan frowned.

“Your . . . Well, I’ve painted myself into a corner. Heh.”

During their conversation, a woman in a red swimsuit had tiptoed across the lawn. When she saw who was currently occupying the pool, she turned around and hobbled away in fear.

“Oh, it’s you!” Ellie said, spotting her, “Don’t leave on account of us: we won’t bother you.”

“Ah . . . No thanks, I was just passing by . . .”

“In your swimsuit?”

Her eyes darted back and forth guiltily.

“Wh- I- Okay, fine. I’ll stay. Just don’t get me into any more trouble,” she snarled menacingly.

She scuttled over to the edge of the pool and dipped her toe beneath the surface. Once she was sure the water was warm, she slid daintily over the edge, far away from the other occupants.

“You know, we don’t bite!” Ian shouted.

She slinked back further.

“We didn’t mean to cause any trouble, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Ellie added.

The woman sighed and waded forward.

“It’s fine. I guess I should thank you. You got Yannick fired.”

“Oh, no! That’s awf-” 

“Well, not really. It was him or me. I guess Wu thought I was more important,” she boasted smugly.

“Ah, there, you see? That decision split our universe into two different timelines!” Ian declared triumphantly.

“What?” 

“Oh, Ian was just explaining some multi-dimensional mumbo-jumbo before you arrived,” Ellie snickered.

“Is that why Wu brought you here?” she asked cheerfully.

“Doubt it. We’re here as a team-” 

“Because I don’t think he’d show you _The Machine_ , if that’s what you’re after,” she continued breezily.

“The Machine? . . .” Ellie echoed.

“Oh, you know . . . the secret device that serves as a gateway to other worlds. It’s all confidential, of course; only the brightest minds at InGen are allowed to discuss it.”

“And y-”

“Naturally, I know all about it,” she crowed.

Alan wondered why she was so keen to reveal Wu’s secrets. She was relishing the attention like it was her divine duty to enlighten those who surrounded her. Alan didn’t think too highly of her to begin with (indeed, fighting with coworkers was less than exemplary behavior), but this was unbelievable!

“See, Wu didn’t really come up with the design himself. We were contacted by another Wu from a parallel universe, who asked if we knew how to build a complex biogenetic automaton for him. Turns out, we didn’t have the technology he needed, but Wu learned to build a hole-making device of his own. None of us dared to cross through, of course, so we decided to keep our physical interaction to a minimum. We observed these other dimensions for weeks on end. After a while, we found new InGens, even a couple of Wus. It’s interesting: in most worlds, Wu’s mother kept her maiden name, Chang, but sometimes, his surname would be something crazy, like . . . Actually, I don’t remember most of them, but you get the idea.”

“So you’re saying that my theories are correct?” Ian asked.

“Yup.”

“And there are other worlds that exist alongside our own?”

“Right-O.”

“And you have a machine that lets you see through time and space.”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, that’s just dandy. I mean, why don’t we all hop on over to this machine and give it a whirl?” Ian barked, clapping his hands.

“I don’t think Wu would let us,” she stammered uncertainly.

“Are you sure you’re not just short on physical evidence?” Ian asked with a smirk.

“You think I’m _LYING_?!” she shrieked.

“Yeah, uh, yeah that’s about the gist of it,” he crooned ironically.

“I should have known! Mathematicians are so closed-minded!” she growled as she climbed out of the pool, “Of all people, YOU should know what it feels like to be ridiculed by your peers. Feh! Go ahead and believe what you want: I don’t care!”

She waddled across the concrete like an irritated penguin.

“Gee, she’s a tad sensitive, don’t you think?” Ian whispered.

“I heard that!” she snarled from across the lawn.

“Sorry!” Ian shouted halfheartedly.

“Ack! Don’t bother me anymore! I’m sick of you people, always asking questions . . . If you really cared about the truth, you’d listen when someone gives you the answer!”

Once she was out of earshot, Ian whistled with disdain.

“Tou-chy. Sheesh!” he huffed.

Alan and Ellie glared at him reproachingly. He blinked.

“What?”

“You shouldn’t have upset her,” Ellie snapped tersely.

“Oh, come on! You heard what she said, right? It’s crazy! Even _I_ know that, and I _study_ the goddamn principles! It’s impossible!” Ian protested.

“So was an island full of dinosaurs,” Alan sighed, “Who’s to say what’s possible and what’s not?”

“But it’s-”

“We’re not saying she’s right,” Ellie added, “But we can’t be sure that she’s mistaken, either.”

Ian’s jaw dropped.

“But with reasoning like that, we have no certainty. Without certainty, we have-”

“Chaos.” they finished simultaneously.

Ian snorted.

“Couldn’t have said it better, myself.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

A few minutes later, they found themselves sitting on the floor in Ian’s bedroom, working on a “group project” of sorts. The maid hadn’t emptied the wastebasket during her visit, so the gang decided to salvage the remnants of the poor apatosaurus lamp with the help of a tube of superglue and an assortment of paleontological epoxies and cyanoacrylates. The lightbulb had (miraculously) survived the fall, and the wiring was intact within the base. The trio built around it from the bottom up, gluing and pasting along the edges. It was like a three-dimensional puzzle.

“So the other man says, ‘I’ll tell you frankly, I didn’t like it, Bill. I went back to toilet paper!’” Ian jested.

Alan laughed.

“It’s not bad, is it?”

“Not bad at all,” Alan said with a grin.

“Oh, shush! You two are so immature,” Ellie sighed.

“And proud of it,” Ian added, “Hey, pass me that piece over there . . . No, the other one . . . The one that’s shaped like India- Bingo! Man, we should do jigsaws together sometime . . .”

“Don’t even bother! Ellie’s the Jigsaw Queen!” Alan declared.

“Oh, yeah?”

“It’s true,” she said, beaming, “My family was big on puzzles. By age eight, my skills were so acute that I could finish a thousand-piecer in under an hour. We had a special slab of plywood reserved for puzzles alone.”

“She’s a monster,” Alan whispered dramatically.

“No, you’re thinking of my mother.”

“Oh-ho! Have you had a few run-ins with the in-laws, then?” Ian teased playfully.

“Technically, they’re not in-laws, but yes,” Alan hummed.

“They overbearing? . . .” Ian ventured.

“You have no idea,” Alan and Ellie chorused gravely.

There was a gentle knock at the door.

“It’s probably Wu,” Alan suggested.

Ian stood up and answered the door while they hid the lamp. 

“Oh . . . hi! We weren’t expecting YOU,” Ian crooned, “Hey, guys! It’s Raven!”

“Who?”

“Robin, actually,” she said sheepishly.

“Ah. I’m not good with names. I knew it was some kind of bird . . .”

He cleared his throat.

“So, what brings you here?”

She shuffled her feet.

“I wanted to apologize . . . you know . . . for earlier . . .” 

“Ha, don’t mention it. I think that’s the billionth apology we’ve heard today. Right guys?”

“Give or take a few,” Alan said as he slid the lamp under the bed.

Robin grinned.

“So you believe me, then?” she asked hopefully.

“Sure, why not?” Ian replied.

Alan sensed that Ian was still not convinced. He didn’t really believe Robin’s claims either, but he wouldn’t be surprised if she had based her anecdotes on her own (erroneous) convictions. Maybe her facts were simply exaggerated. Very, very exaggerated.

“You know, you’re a lot friendlier than most scientists. Everything is so hush-hush ‘round these parts,” Ian remarked.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Robin drawled casually, “It’s hard to remember who knows what with all of these secrets and lies. To be honest, I’m sick of it, myself. It’s no way to run a business, if you don’t mind my saying so.”

“We don’t really agree with Wu’s doctrines either,” Alan interjected, detecting the hidden meaning in her words, “and we won’t tell him that you gave away any information, either.”

“Our lips are sealed,” Ellie added.

Robin sighed.

“That’s a relief. For a while, I was worried that you might be in his clique, if you know what I mean. He probably hasn’t told you anything,” she guessed.

“Well, we’ve figured out quite a bit on our own,” Ellie pointed out with a slight hesitancy, “and it seems the danger here is very real. I don’t know how Wu expects the park to be up and running with all of these raptor issues.”

Alan blinked. Raptor issues? Ellie hadn’t said anything about raptor issues . . .

“Tell me about it!” Robin groaned, “We’ve had nothing but trouble ever since we took the chieftain’s infant. Honestly, we should have let him go before they had time to plan an attack. They’re smart. _Very_ smart . . .”

“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” Ellie said quickly, “Let’s just hope they don’t have enough wingpower to fly over the perimeter . . .”

Alan was dumbfounded. What was she _on_ about? . . .

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about THAT,” Robin clucked dismissively, “The guards always gun ‘em down within fifteen meters.”

Ian looked gobsmacked.

“What the hell-”

Without warning, Ellie began to hawk noisily. Both Ian and Robin jumped at the sudden noise. Ellie cleared her throat.

“Right, so the raptors are under control for the time being, but what about the troödons? I doubt they’re as smart as you say. I imagine they’re no brighter than a chicken.”

Alan frowned. What on earth was Ellie talking about? She knew that troödons were often credited as being the smartest of all dinosaurs. Why was she behaving so strangely?

“Ack! Don’t even joke about them! They are _deadly_ , no word of a lie. If you see their eyes glowing in the night, you’re as good as dead. They only reveal themselves when they’re in range, you see . . . They show signs of borderline humanoid intelligence. Their level of communication is unheard of.”

Ellie smirked.

“Don’t be silly. They communicate with eye contact, just like chimpanzees. There’s no way they could speak with each other.”

With this, Robin adopted an expression of utter confusion.

“But how- I mean, surely you can’t- How long have you been infected?”

“Uh . . . Why does it matter?” Ellie sputtered.

Robin sighed.

“Never mind, just forget I said anything. If Wu doesn’t want you to know, I wouldn’t be doing myself any favors by telling you. I’d better leave now . . . See you guys later, I guess.”

She turned to leave, but stopped suddenly.

“Oh, and by the way . . . I wouldn’t underestimate the Troödons, if I were you,” she said darkly, “If you ever came face-to-face with a troödon, you wouldn’t live to tell the tale. They live deep in the Valley of Mists, far from the other predators, but when they decide to hunt, you are a dead man walking. You can run. You can hide. But nothing will save you once you catch a glimpse of those big . . . white . . . bloodless . . . eyes.”

Alan shivered.

“Well, goodnight!” she chirped merrily, skipping down the hallway.

Ian closed the door sharply. He turned to Ellie with an expression of indignant hostility.

“What was THAT all about?” he hissed, “I thought we agreed to tell each other _everything_ , including potentially life-threatening news about flying raptors and super-smart troödons! I thought you said you didn’t HAVE any more information!”

“I didn’t,” Ellie said simply, “But SHE did.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

The newly-repaired apatosaurus lamp glowed radiantly on the bedside table, projecting odd shapes along the walls and floor. The light that shone through the webbed cracks was reminiscent of distorted beams of sunlight on an ocean floor. The bluish tinge of the apatosaurus completed the illusion, giving the room a marine esthetic. This went unnoticed, however, by Alan and his crew, for they had created a new project to admire.

The group was studying a network of red yarn that they had tied to a series of pins on the comforter. It was like a massive spiderweb (if the spider in question had only managed to catch post-it notes for some reason). They took it all in, pondering the implications of what they had discovered. Finally, Ian spoke.

“I don’t get it,” he conceded.

Ellie slapped his arm with the back of her hand.

“It’s a mind-map, you dodo!” she scolded.

Alan knew what Ellie was going for. He had grown accustomed to her quirky methods of thought-organization, though she usually used these diagrams for matters pertaining to excavation and classification. He had to admit that it was useful to put all of these thoughts into writing, even if they couldn’t draw any new information from it.

“What does it all mean?” Ian asked, strumming at the yarn idly.

“It’s a compilation of what we know and who told us,” Ellie replied, slapping his hand away from the web.

“And what DO we know?”

Ellie strutted to the side of the map like a military tactician, pointing at the diagram with a plastic knitting needle.

“First, there’s the information Wu gave us. He seemed uncomfortable while he was describing the ‘aerodynamic qualities’ of certain theropods, so I decided to investigate further, eventually leaching the rest of the information from Robin.”

“How did you know it was the raptors?” Ian asked.

“Lucky guess,” Ellie hummed sardonically, “Of course, this leads us to the troödons, the most intelligent dinosaurs known to man . . .”

“They seem like a major threat,” Alan speculated, “but at least we know how to identify them, not that _that’s_ much help, if Robin is telling the truth.”

“And The Machine?” Ian wondered aloud, “Where does it fit in? It must be-” 

“Irrelevant,” Ellie snapped, “We’re concerned with dinosaurs and disease, not science fiction! Speaking of which . . .”

“This virus is the most ambiguous part,” Alan continued, “Wu says it’s dangerous, Hammond says it’s benign. Who do we trust? Wu’s a liar, and Hammond’s . . . Well, he’s a bit out-of-touch with reality.”

“Therefore, we trust neither of them,” Ellie concluded, “Robin, however . . .”

“Said nothing useful. She speaks in riddles . . .” Ian protested.

“Not true,” Ellie said, shaking her head, “She knows something. We can coax it out of her, I’m sure.”

“But why-”

“She spoke as though she was aware of my condition. Did you see how confused she looked when I stumbled? It makes sense: she fits into the _at-risk_ demographic.”

“So you’re saying? . . .”

“She has it too,” Alan confirmed.

Ian scratched his head.

“I don’t know . . . What was it she said before she left? I don’t recall her exact words, but it struck me as odd. Something about communication? . . .”

“She’s close to the dinosaurs. I saw her feeding bambiraptors,” Ellie remembered, “But why would she associate it with the virus?”

“Maybe we should split up and look for clues,” Ian sang patronizingly.

“Can it, Scrappy,” Alan warned him.

“Scrappy? I thought I was Fred,” Ian complained.

“I’m the wisest: I get to be Fred,” Alan argued.

“Jinkies,” Ellie huffed.

“She makes a good Velma!” Ian remarked.

“She’s more of a Daphne,” Alan declared.

“Velma!”

“Daphne!”

“Wilma!”

“See, that’s not even the right-”

“Oh, shut up! You’re both Shaggy!” Ellie snapped.

“Okay, okay,” Ian sighed, “Just one last question.”

He pointed at the pinned sheet.

“Where am I supposed to sleep?”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After unpinning Ian’s blanket, Alan and Ellie headed off to bed. With the disassembled map lying messily on the bedside table, there was no reason to stay up any later. Alan did not sense that Ellie was satisfied with their findings, however. She looked over the post-it notes one last time while Alan brushed his teeth. He could tell that she was still trying to make sense of Robin’s ramblings. When he stepped out of the bathroom, Alan noticed that Ellie had replaced the notes with a paperback novel to keep him from worrying. He pretended not to notice that she was holding the book upside-down.

“How is it?” he asked pleasantly.

“What? Oh, the book. It’s good,” she trilled hastily.

“What’s it about?” 

Ellie scanned the pages for key words.

“It’s, um, it’s about . . .” 

She peeked at the front cover.

“Gorillas! . . . Gorillas who . . . who live in the Congo. See? That’s why it’s called- Okay, fine. I wasn’t really reading,” she conceded, snapping her reading glasses off her nose, “I’m just worried, is all . . .”

Alan put his hand over hers.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he vowed.

“You can’t promise that.”

“I can.” 

Ellie shook her head.

“We _barely_ survived our last visit. What makes you think that you have the power to defend me?”

Alan searched for the right answer. He barred “Because this time, we’re ready.” right off the bat, for obvious reasons. He decided that “Because I can handle this.” was also a no-go. What else WAS there? . . .

“Would you like to call your lifeline?” Ellie sassed.

“Give me a minute,” Alan retorted.

“It’s no use, Alan. We’re defenseless,” she insisted.

“Wu said he’d give us smoke bombs and flares . . .”

“Great! We may as well try to take down a tank with Nerf guns!” she replied sarcastically.

“It’s not our job to fight them,” Alan reminded her, “but we can do our best to plan a quick escape if need be.”

“Good luck outrunning the velociraptors,” Ellie yawned as she undid her hair.

Alan smiled.

“I don’t _have_ to outrun the velociraptors. I just need to run faster than Ian.”

Ellie cuffed him playfully.

“A- _lan_!”

He chortled.

“I guess you could say he’d be dis- _uh_ -sembled!” he teased.

“Oh, stop it, you! This is serious!” Ellie giggled.

“Seri- _uh_ -s?”

“Shut up, or I’ll strangle you!”

“No need to go full _throttle_.”

“Okay, that’s it!” 

_WHUMP!_

She shoved her pillow against his face in mock-suffocation. After fumbling around for a bit, he poked her in the belly.

“OOF! That’s not fair! I was- Oh, no. Oh, _no_! Alan, don’t you da-a-are!” she shrieked as he tickled her neck, “You know I’m very sensiti-i-ive! Stop it! St- AHAHAHA!”

Next door, Ian groaned.

“Would you two be _quiet_?! Some of us are trying to get some sleep!”

“Sorry, Ian!” came a muffled chorus from across the wall.

He nickered like a horse and pulled a black sleep mask over his eyes.

“No respect at all,” he sighed as he leaned back into his pillow.


	6. White Rabbit

White Rabbit

It was dark in the maintenance shed. Too dark. 

Ellie shivered. This whole setup was all too familiar. 

In her subconscious, she knew that this was a bad idea. It was impossible to see anything outside of the flashlight’s radius, and Ellie didn’t like it one bit. She could hear her footsteps echoing through the tunnel, breaking through the absolute silence that enveloped the building like a thick blanket. The noise was sharp, most likely due to the metal grating beneath her shoes. She made her way down to the rickety catwalk, where she paused briefly. Something wasn’t right.

When she explored her surroundings, it became clear that she was, in fact, dreaming. As soon as she acknowledged this, she began walking involuntarily towards the glowing mainframe, which had appeared out of nowhere. She tried to stop, but the nightmare was beyond her control now. There was no way to fight it.

When she arrived at the control panel, there was an eerie silence. Something was coming. Although she tried to resist the pull of her subconscious, Ellie couldn’t close her eyes or turn away. She was stuck.

<SCREEEEEEEEE!>

The velociraptor burst from behind the power grid, screaming like a banshee. 

Ellie ran. 

The rhythmic clanging of her feet on the catwalk was hardly loud enough to overpower the raptor’s screams. Ellie didn’t know where she was going, but she knew that she needed to escape the creature at all costs, no matter where she ended up. She turned several corners, though she couldn’t identify any familiar landmarks.

Dashing through the maze of piping and wires, she noticed the pteranodon perched at every intersection. Was she going in circles? 

Finally, she saw the glowing contour of an exit. With the raptor close behind her, she struggled to climb towards the light, but she stumbled on the staircase. It collapsed beneath her, leaving her at the mercy of the hissing monster.

<SCREEE!>

It pounced, and-

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ellie jolted awake. 

Was this going to be a regular thing? She hadn’t had a proper sleep in ages!

She shook off the remnants of the nightmare, still shivering from the post-awakening myoclonus. She tried to minimize the painful tingling by shifting around in bed, but only succeeded in waking Alan.

“Hngrrrmmm . . .” he groaned.

“Sorry, hon. I didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”

“Berderm ermph errerrerr . . .”

“What?”

“Nerrerrmerd . . .” 

He sat himself upright with great difficulty.

“Whazz goinnn’ onnn?” he slurred, “Izzzit time t’wake up?”

“No, I was just . . . stretching,” Ellie stammered.

Luckily for her, Alan was too groggy to question her neurotic behavior. He rolled out of bed clumsily, nearly stepping on his fedora hat, which he had left on the floor. He picked it up and placed it on his head, forgetting that he was still wearing his pajamas. 

“Throw me the pillow; I’ll throw you the whip,” Ellie joked. 

“Hey, I’m no Harrison Ford,” Alan retorted semi-lucidly.

“You guys up?” Ian chimed in from the other side of the wall.

“Yeah, you?” Alan asked, oblivious to his slip-up.

“Oh boy. We’d better get you some coffee, and quick!” 

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After breakfast, Ellie and the gang headed to the grassy plain near the Visitors’ Center. They had been told that Wu was doing fieldwork (in the most literal way possible), but he was nowhere to be seen. Despite this, they decided to stick around, just in case. When it became apparent that they were not going to be assisted, they trotted down the path to find the other scientists. This proved to be a simple feat; the veterinary RV was hard to miss on such flat terrain. A worker nodded at them as they walked by (after taking a puff of his cigarette, of course).

“Is Wu around?” Ellie asked.

The worker laughed.

“He ain’t here, lucky for you,” he wheezed.

“What do you mean?” Ellie inquired.

He exhaled, sending a cloud of smoke uncomfortably close to her face.

“Wu’s in one of his moods. He just finished yappin’ at Harding,” he croaked.

“Harding?” they chorused in different tones.

“Someone call me?” came a voice from inside the trailer. 

“Shit! I’m not here!” Ian hissed as he ducked under the vehicle.

“What the hell? . . .” Alan began.

“Shhhhhhhhh . . .”

“Ian-”

“SHHH!”

“Are you seeing this?” he asked Ellie with bewilderment, “Unbelievable!”

Harding rounded the corner with his hands on his hips.

“What’s the matter, Joe? Can’t you see I’m bus-”

He noticed Ellie and Alan.

“Well, I’ll be damned. What on earth are YOU doing here?” he bellowed heartily. Ellie smiled.

“It’s good to see you again, Dr. Harding. We’re here to see Wu. Is he coming back soon?”

“I hope not,” Harding grunted, “He didn’t seem too happy with my progress on the stegosaurs.”

“ _Stegosaurs_?” Alan asked with excitement.

“Yeah. I’m supposed to be finding a cure for their diarrhea, but my scientist bailed last minute and his partner mysteriously vanished shortly after.”

Ellie and Alan exchanged a look.

“No, no, she hasn’t been eaten . . . I think. There aren’t any predators nearby, in any case. We’re next to the herbivore sanctuary. We whipped it together to salvage some of the more ‘valuable’ specimens. Trouble is, half of them don’t trust me.”

“Why not?” Ellie asked.

“I lost my hat. They don’t recognize people too well, so I have to keep up a consistent outfit. I had the same trouble when I shaved my mustache. That was quite an ordeal. Have you ever tried to order a fake mustache from San José?”

“Can’t say I have,” Alan said with a shrug.

“Ah, well don’t try it. They never have the right color in stock.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Harding chuckled.

“Well, it looks like Wu won’t be back for a bit. Wanna come inside?” he said, pointing to the RV.

“Sure! We’d love to,” Ellie said brightly.

One by one, they climbed up the folding stairs and made their way into the trailer. Harding closed the door with a metallic thud.

“Um . . . guys?” Ian whimpered under the RV.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

As they opened the inside door, Ellie gasped. The interior was unlike anything she had ever seen, and she had encountered _a lot_ of vehicles in her career. The RV was massive, luxurious, and unbelievably clean. It made their own trailer look like a tinker toy.

The center room was multi-purpose, with large stainless steel counters and fold-out tables stationed along the walls, obviously for experimentation of some genre. These spaces, Ellie guessed, were especially useful for veterinary purposes. Harding and his (currently absent) associates would have _no_ trouble working in these marvelous conditions.

The hull of the vehicle had many custom modifications. Where there should have been beds, there were open spaces; where there should have been a television, there was a scientific computer. This RV was not designed for leisure; _that_ was for sure. Along the walls, there were folding chairs and cots that strapped into place so that they would not slide while the vehicle was in motion. In the back room, there was a fully-sized refrigerator, but instead of food, it held various temperature-specific substances, experiments, and vaccines.

“Wow. You really have everything,” Ellie remarked with wonder.

“That’s not all! We have a meat locker too. Take a look.”

Harding pressed a red button on the wall. A large metallic door hissed open. When the cloud of coolant gas cleared, everyone backed away in surprise. There, standing among the slabs of meat, was Robin, shivering with cold.

“Ah. _There_ you are, Robin! I was worried that something had happened to you,” Harding said with embarrassment.

Robin stepped forward, unsticking her frozen shoes from the floor.

“S-s-something d-d-did hap-p-pen,” she stuttered, “I g-g-got locked ins-s-side . . .”

She broke an icicle off her nose.

“How-” Alan began.

“Don’t ask,” she growled.

Harding rubbed his chin.

“Robin, why didn’t you use the inside button?” he inquired.

“The w-w-what?”

“We have two buttons. One on the inside and one on the outside. See?” he explained, pointing to another bright red button. Robin did not say a word. She shuffled away with a neutral expression, her frozen clothes crunching with each step. Ellie and Alan watched her leave.

“Is she usually like this?” Ellie asked slowly.

“Oh, yes.”

“And she got this job . . . how?” Alan wondered.

“She did well in her job interview; she had very creative answers!” Harding marveled.

“And what are those?” 

“Application sessions,” Ellie said cleverly.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ian was surprised to see a human ice cube exit the RV.

“Oh my god . . .”

“Don’t even START!” Robin spat, “I’ve had enough trouble without your input, Mr. Sassypants!”

“Sassypants?” Ian mumbled.

“Yeah, you think you’re so cool, with your black leather and dark sunglasses. Pffft!”

“Actually, at this precise moment, you’re the one who’s ‘cool’, if you catch my drift.”

It took a second for the penny to drop.

“HEY!”

“Relax, I’m just kidding. Want some gum?”

She snatched the stick of gum from his palm nastily.

“You’re welcome . . .”

“Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, you know.”

“Where’d you learn that? Elementary school?”

“Ack! There you go again! It’s no wonder your friends left you alone out here.”

Ian snuffed indignantly.

“For your information, they didn’t _leave_ me. I’m, uh, hiding from my girlfriend’s pop.”

Robin stopped chewing her gum.

“You know, I’m no expert in ‘normal’ behavior, but that’s probably the _stupidest_ thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Must not listen to yourself much,” Ian muttered under his breath.

“I’m not deaf, you know.”

She popped her gum messily.

“Charming.”

Ian heard a click inside the trailer.

“Oh, shit, shit, shit!”

He slid under the RV again, nearly bumping his head in the process.

“-by the garage. Assuming he doesn’t show up _here_ again . . .” Harding was saying, “Is it just you two, or are we waiting on anyone else?”

“Just us,” Ellie lied.

Robin sneered at Ian.

“Oh, Dr. _Har_ -ding . . .” she sang merrily.

Ian began to panic. He folded his hands in a prayer gesture and mouthed “Please, don’t.” to the gleeful scientist.

“What is it, Robin?”

“I have something very interesting to tell you . . .”

She held eye contact with Ian, who had given up on begging. Curling into a ball, he bit his lip and closed his eyes. He was bracing himself for humiliation. Robin’s nose twitched.

“Well?” Harding prompted.

She sighed.

“I saw a coelophysis this morning,” she finished.

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

Ian was about to silently thank her, but she left without giving him so much as a final glance. Ellie rubbed her chin as Robin departed.

“Hm. She’s an odd bird, that one,” Harding clucked, “The garage is just over that hill. I could walk you over . . .”

“We’re fine,” Ellie replied, “We don’t want you to get into trouble when we meet up with Wu.”

 _Or for Ian to get into trouble when he meets you_ , she thought. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Harding agreed, “If you get lost, just look for the communications tower. It’s hard to miss.”

He retreated back into his trailer, obviously wary of Wu’s judgment.

“He’s gone,” Ellie informed Ian.

“Oh, good,” he sighed as he slid out from under the trailer, “He’s a bit off, don’t you think?”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

The communications tower was easy to spot, just like Harding said. It towered above the trees like an iron pine, blinking red at the top every so often. There was a path snaking through the jungle that seemed to be pointed in its general direction, so the group decided to begin their trek there. It wasn’t an easy hike, but Ellie was used to such things. The ground, she noticed, was surprisingly alpine-esque for a tropical jungle, with wood chips and grayish rocks all over the place. The dirt looked less fertile than it should have because of this. Ellie wondered if it was due to human intervention. It wouldn’t surprise her: InGen’s fingerprints were everywhere, from the untended plants to the hastily scraped-off arbor fungus. Once in a while, they would pass a decomposing hunk of bark, which smelled of rot and decay. There didn’t seem to be enough decomposers in this ecosystem, and this troubled Ellie. A healthy equilibrium depended on all kinds of factors, and InGen had obviously removed these components to be aesthetically pleasing. What’s more, non-native plants were beginning to take over, thriving in the summery conditions. Ellie was not pleased.

Ian stumbled on the trail.

“Ow!”

“Careful, Ian,” Alan sighed.

“I don’t understand how you two are so _sprightly_ , especially with open-toed shoes.”

“Years of practice, Ian. Years of practice.”

“You hike much?”

“We have to,” Ellie interjected, “in our line of work.”

Ian shrugged.

“I don’t know, I always thought you just sat and dug.”

“There’s a lot more to it than that,” Alan said defensively, “We do all kinds of things, ranging from analysis to art.”

“Art?”

“We have to reassemble specimens with glue,” Alan explained, “It’s intricate work.”

“Like a puzzle,” Ellie offered.

Suddenly, a lush cotoneaster bush to the left of the road sneezed loudly. Ian hopped off the trail to investigate.

Ellie rubbed her chin.

“You know, I’m willing to bet it’s . . .”

Ian pulled Robin up from behind the bush.

“. . . yeah,” Ellie finished.

“I wasn’t following you,” Robin whimpered.

“Likely story,” Ian grumbled, letting her go.

“We seem to be bumping into you _a lot_ , recently . . .” Alan remarked with suspicion.

“Did Wu send you?” Ian asked.

“WHAT?!” she squawked, “I’m not just some stupid _underling_! I’m a _scientist_!”

“A very _incompetent_ scientist . . .” Ian muttered.

“Hey, I saved your ass back there! I didn’t have to do that,” Robin snapped.

“Granted, but-”

“Ack! Save your ‘buts’ for someone who gives a shit. I’m outta here!”

They watched her leave.

“Why is it that she always exits on a sour note?” Ian puzzled.

“Maybe she doesn’t have much good news to give,” Ellie suggested, “She DID save your ass though.”

“You mean _jur_ -ass?”

They groaned.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

When they reached the top of the hill, Ellie noticed that Ian was quite winded. He stood with both hands on his bent knees, panting like a sick dog. 

“Do you need us to carry you, Ian?” she joked.

He waved his hand floppily.

“No, no. Go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later,” he rasped.

Alan gestured towards the garage.

“Shall we?”

Ellie nodded.

They trudged over the rocky crest of the hill and found themselves on a vast expanse of dirt. It was powdery beneath their sandals, often kicking up at the slightest breeze. There were various supplies outside the garage, ranging from metal to tires, though it was hard to make out anything else among the mess of building materials. The precariously stacked sheets of corrugated metal clanged against each other with each gust of wind in a cacophony of rust and steel. The whole setup looked like a junkyard.

“Lonesome-looking place, isn’t it?” Ellie remarked idly.

As they approached the open door, Ellie and Alan heard a shrill buzzing sound, most likely from a saw of some kind. Alan winced at the noise. It was like nails on a chalkboard, Ellie thought as they stepped across the threshold.

Inside the garage, there were various cars and accessories. Jeeps, vans, and quads were being worked on in the center of the room by several purple-card workers, who welded and cut at the sides like they were trying to destroy the poor things. Ellie noted that a good portion of the cars seemed to have distinctly dinosaur-related ailments, including scratched paint, mangled steering wheels, and chewed tires. It was enough to make her feel unsafe all over again.

“Excuse me,” Alan shouted over the racket, “Can someone tell us where to find Wu?”

A plump man with a curly beard rubbed his hands on a rag and walked over to greet them.

“If you are looking for Wu, he just left, señor,” he said apologetically, “You could check the trailer . . .”

“Been there,” Ellie replied, “Where else could he be?”

The man shrugged.

“I don’t know . . . You should stay put: he might be looking for you.”

Ellie bit her lip.

“I sure _hope_ not. We heard that he was in a bad mood . . .”

The worker nodded.

“Furious! He started shouting about crazy things like deadlines and diarrhea . . . I think he might be insane,” the man admitted.

“Hey! Felipe! We need your help o’er here!”

“Jus’ a minute, I’m talking with the guests.”

“Now!”

Felipe rolled his eyes.

“What is it, Carlos?”

He strutted over to a car with an open hood. Ellie and Alan followed him hesitantly. A greasy man slid out from under the car.

“There’s nothing wrong down here. Grab a cable: it might help.”

“Ay-ay-ay! Is that all?”

He pulled a red jumper cable off the wall and tossed it over.

“Hook it up!”

And he did just that. Felipe grabbed the other end of the cable and marched over to another car, popping the hood. Ellie and Alan watched with fascination. 

“Do you think they need help?” Ellie asked.

“Naw, they’re fine.”

Alan turned away in order to examine a bite mark on the crumpled hood of a jeep. Ellie bit her lip. Apparently, he was also questioning the park’s safety.

“HEY, WATCH OUT!”

In a short amount of time, several things happened at once. The jumper cable had wrapped around Carlos’ foot, causing him to trip and knock over a barrel of poorly-placed water, which spilled all the way over to where Ellie was standing. She didn’t have time to lift her soaked feet, however, as she noticed a very troublesome fact.

 

Carlos had dropped his end of the cable into the puddle. 

 

Before she could process what was going on, Ellie jolted in pain and fell against a car door.

“What the hell? ELLIE! Ellie, are you okay?”

She couldn’t answer. The world seemed to be spiraling around her. Nothing had defined edges . . . at least, none that she could see amid the whiteness that lined her vision. It was like a dream. She thought she heard the flapping of wings . . .

“. . . crazy?! She’s been electrocuted!” Alan was shouting.

Ellie’s eyes fluttered.

“No . . . no, I’m fine. I-”

She winced.

“We have to get you to the clinic!”

“Too far, señor! Take her to the Visitors’ Center!”

He nodded, supporting Ellie as they stumbled out the door. On their way out, they passed Ian, who had finally decided to join them.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“No time. Visitors’ Center,” Alan stammered hurriedly.

“Is Ellie hurt? Tell me on the way, at least!” Ian shouted.

“Can you keep up?” Alan asked.

“No . . .”

“Then don’t slow us down!”

Ellie limped beside Alan. Her stomach felt like it was shifting all over the place, and it was much worse than it had been the night she threw up. It was so painful . . .

 

Then she remembered.  


_You needn’t worry. As long as you avoid strong electrical stimulation- and I don’t think you’ll have a problem with that, being the clever girl you are- you won’t show any symptoms._

 

This was not good.


	7. Chaos

Chaos

“Hang on, Ellie. We’re almost there . . .” Alan cooed gently as they approached the Visitors’ Center.

Ellie didn’t answer. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she’d vomit. In any case, her tongue was too swollen to speak. All she could do was hobble along and trust that Alan knew what he was doing.

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, Alan adjusted his arm so that Ellie could hold the railing. It took her a couple of tries: there were three bars in her field of vision.

“Jeepers! What’s wrong with her?” a familiar voice squawked.

Oh, no.

“She’s been electrocuted, Robin. Stand aside.”

“Yikes. That’s terrible news- Wait, did you say _electrocuted_?”

Robin’s tone brightened almost instantly.

“I can help! See, we both-”

“No, Robin! I need you to get Wu,” Alan insisted as they stumbled up the stairs.

“But I-”

“Get Wu!”

“Alright, I’m going, I’m going!”

She pattered down the staircase as Ellie and Alan burst through the front door.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” Alan shouted desperately.

The rotunda was deserted. 

“Hello?!”

“Alan . . .” Ellie rasped, “I don’t feel so good . . .”

He brought her over to the flower bed.

“Shhh, it’s okay. Here, lie down while I get help. Don’t move.”

She didn’t have much of a choice. Whenever she tried to sit up, Ellie experienced an agonizing pain in her chest. It was brutal. She rolled over and started counting the flowers to keep her mind off the pain.

Heliconia . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . .

She cringed.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Furry Feather Calathea . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 5 . . .

“We need help here!”

Ellie started shivering.

African Mask . . . Brazilian Tree Fern . . .

“Please? . . .”

Crocosmia-

Without warning, a massive wave of pain and nausea washed over Ellie, and she began to foam at the mouth. She spat into the flower display, trying not to choke on her froth as she contorted on the floor.

“Alan . . .” she coughed weakly.

The foam began to subside, but the pain only got worse.

“Alan!” she screamed.

As she batted her arms in front of her, she noticed that her hands seemed to be distorted. Impossible. It had to be her vision . . .

“Alan! Help!”

She bit her lip. It bled furiously. How-

“Ellie? Ellie, what’s wro- OH MY GOD!”

Alan was on the balcony. By the expression on his face, Ellie could tell that something was seriously wrong with her. He looked as though he might faint . . .

She screamed. The pain was getting worse. 

“ALAN!”

“I’m coming!”

“ALA-AAAAAAAAAH!” 

Alan ran down the staircase at full force, jumping down two steps at a time.

 

By the time he reached the bottom, Ellie had already passed out.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“Ellie? . . .”

 

 

 

“Ellie?”

 

 

 

“Ellie, are you okay?”

 

 

 

She groaned and lifted her head. Everything was blurry. Maybe she had gone blind during her little seizure . . .

“Ellie?” Alan whispered.

She jumped at his sudden appearance. Ellie hadn’t noticed him before, yet he was standing right in front of her. He stepped back, then disappeared once more. That was strange. Maybe she was hallucinating . . .

“If you can understand me, blink twice.”

She obeyed.

Alan flickered in and out of her vision. It was odd, she only seemed to notice him when-

 

. . . when he moved.

 

Oh, no.

 

Oh, _no_!

 

It was impossible! It had to be! There was no way this could be happening, _no way_! It had to be a mistake or a misconception on her part. And yet . . . 

No. This wasn’t real. This wasn’t _real_!

“Ellie . . .”

She turned to Alan. He was struggling to find the right words. Finally, he sighed.

“Ellie, I think you might be a T-Rex.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Robin ran across the field, pumping her arms up and down like an epileptic athlete. Although she had never been a good runner, panic was always a strong motivator. She had to be quick, for Ellie’s sake.

Robin knew how tough the first sick-wave could be, in fact, one might say that she had firsthand experience. She would never forget how frightening the electrocution had been, especially since she had been among the first to undergo the procedure. Back then, nobody knew if it was possible for a person of her level of infection to survive. From what she understood, Ellie was a couple of notches _higher_ than that, having been closer in proximity to the reactor when it went off. 

To be honest, Robin was more than a little jealous of Ellie. Wu hypothesized that she could probably go all the way to the level of a T-Rex, the largest theropod on the island at the time. It made sense: she had come into contact with the Rex during her visit, and if anyone was at the top tier for radiation, she was the most likely candidate (well, aside from the kids, who reacted differently to the disease [though Wu wasn’t entirely certain about the effects of the virus on children yet]). It was too bad Ellie wasn’t a staff member. Wu might’ve told her more if he’d known that she could be trusted. 

Robin stopped to catch her breath. What was she _doing_ , anyway? Wasn’t she capable enough to handle the situation on her own? Surely, she could assist Ellie, even if she was in a higher tier. 

But Wu would be furious, wouldn’t he? Robin pictured him with his arms crossed, tapping his foot like a cartoon character, shouting-

“ROBIN! What the hell is going on? Why aren’t you at your post?”

She turned around. Apparently, WU had found HER.

“Uh, nothing . . . Well, something . . . What I mean is-”

“ROBIN!”

She flinched.

“It’s about the group . . .” she whimpered.

“Are they getting along?”

“Well, yes, but-”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it. We need their cooperation. _Especially_ Sattler,” he said pointedly, “We’ll bide our time for now, but when the moment is right, we’ll tell her everything.”

Robin grimaced.

“Actually . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“I just don’t understand how this could _happen_!” Alan marveled, “I mean, it’s _crazy_ , totally _crazy_!”

Ellie nodded. She was sitting in the middle of the flower bed, watching him pace back and forth. Although she knew that he was upset, she was glad that he was up and about. She didn’t want to lose sight of him.

“And you didn’t know about this side-effect, right?”

<Of _course_ I didn’t! I would have _told_ you. >

“Oh, Ellie, you _know_ I can’t understand a word you’re saying . . .”

She rolled her eyes. It was odd that she was able to do so, considering the hypothesized lack of ocular mobility in dinosaurs. Maybe she wasn’t completely saurian after all . . .

“I can’t believe Wu lied about something as important as this,” Alan continued, “I mean, look at you!”

She snuffed angrily.

“You know what I mean.”

Suddenly, the doors swung open.

“Alan, Ellie, I made it! Now, will someone tell me what’s going o-AH-AH-AH!” Ian shrieked as he noticed Ellie.

“Don’t move, Ian!” Alan shouted.

Ian froze with his arms shielding his face.

“I’m not talking about the vision thing,” Alan clarified, “It’s Ellie.”

“What about her?” Ian asked, still not moving.

“No, I mean, _it’s_ Ellie.”

<Hi, Ian.> 

He lowered his arms.

“I don’t get it,” Ian babbled.

Alan sighed.

“What’s not to get? Ellie’s a T-Rex.”

She nodded and waved at Ian with her tiny T-Rex arm.

Ian looked at Alan, then Ellie, then Alan again. Finally, he put his hands together and took a deep breath.

“And everyone’s . . . _okay_ with this?”

<What do YOU think?>

“I can’t understand her, can you?” Ian asked.

“Nope,” Alan sighed.

Ian ran his fingers through his hair.

“Alrightee, then. This is quite a dilemma. Are you _sure_ it’s El-”

“Yes!” Alan shouted impatiently.

“Just making sure . . .” Ian said defensively.

Ellie grunted.

“Hey, don’t you get sassy with _me_!” Ian said, waggling his index finger at her.

She snapped her teeth at him mockingly.

“Argh! That’s not funny, you know. I still have PTSD from my last encounter.”

<Don’t we all?>

Alan started pacing again.

“I think we need to reconsider our options at this point-”

<Obviously.>

“That sounded sarcastic,” Alan surmised.

Ellie shrugged as best as she could.

“Anyway, we should probably figure out a plan of action, or things could get ugly _real_ fast,” he finished.

They didn’t have to wait for his prophecy to come true. At that exact moment, the Costa Rican nurse entered through a side door, blowing her nose. She adjusted her glasses and turned to face Ellie.

<Um . . . hello?>

“Dios mío, es un dinosaurio!” she screamed, dropping her tissue.

“Wait! Stop!” Alan shouted as she fled.

“¡Ayuda! ¡Ayuda! Estoy siendo perseguido por un monstruo, y él ve con hambre!”

“We’ve gotta get you out of here!” Alan shouted to Ellie, who promptly stood up.

<Alan, I hope you know what you’re doing, because I’m not sure that I can walk too far on these legs . . .>

“How do we get her out of here? She won’t exactly fit through the front door . . .” Ian pointed out.

“I don’t know, but we’d better think of something, and quick!”

Suddenly, a group of security guards flooded across the room, having been alerted by the nurse’s screams. They pushed Alan and Ian to the side aggressively. After finding cover, they cocked their guns and took aim at Ellie.

“Wait! Don’t shoot her, don’t shoot her!” Alan shouted, trying to push past them.

Ellie felt a sharp sting on her thigh. They were firing at her! 

“Run, Ellie, run!”

Run where? There was nowhere to go! She swerved her head from side to side, searching for an escape route.

“Through the glass, Ellie! Jump through the glass!” Ian hollered as two guards tackled him to the ground.

Ellie turned to the window, trying to judge its width. Another bullet grazed her shoulder. She would have to take a leap of faith.

She took a running jump at the window, hoping that she was heavy enough to break through. 

She was. 

The glass shattered around her as she tumbled down the slanted terrain, landing painfully on her side. Somehow, she managed to stand herself upright before the guards were able to surround the window area. Ellie stomped across the open field, heading for the cover of the jungle. She felt a bullet nick her eyebrow, and ran faster. 

Once she was out of range, she turned back to the Visitors’ Center to see if Alan was okay. Unfortunately, she was too far to identify the tiny people running around on the broken glass. She _did_ notice, however, that a group of unfriendly-looking men were boarding a jeep to chase her down. She turned away from them reluctantly. She didn’t want to leave, but if she were to stick around . . .

Ellie plunged into the dark jungle, not knowing where she would end up when she reached the other side.


	8. Compsognathus

Compsognathus

Robin tiptoed across the field of broken glass, feeling the larger fragments crunch unpleasantly beneath her sneakers. She didn’t want to cut her feet, yet she couldn’t resist taking a peek at the scene of the crime. She wasn’t the only one: a slew of scientists had crowded around the shattered window to gawk at the remnants of (what she assumed to be) an alarmingly violent spectacle. All the telltale signs of a battle were evident, from the trampled flower bed to the glass on the back lawn where she stood. Although she felt a twinge of guilt for not making it back in time, it was quickly replaced with a burning indignance. She could have handled the situation alone . . . Maybe.

Robin grabbed hold of the window’s edge and hoisted herself back into the rotunda. The Visitors’ Center was colder than usual. It wasn’t surprising: the shattered window provided an inordinate amount of natural ventilation. Robin shivered. Sattler had burst through the glass like it was made of wet papyrus, and the armed guards were unable to stop her. It was a good thing, too, for her sake, though it made Robin question the validity of InGen’s safety measures. If the trailer incident wasn’t proof of InGen’s shortcomings, then THIS certainly was. The room looked like a war zone!

“Boy, your friend really did a number on this place, huh?” she said to Ian, who was leaning against the wall beside the window.

He glared at her.

“I can’t imagine it’s easy to clean up after yourself when you’re being SHOT AT!” he snapped.

“ _I_ tried to _stop_ this! Don’t take your anger out on _me_!” she responded angrily.

Ian ignored her and walked over to Alan, who was being “interviewed” by Wu. Robin sensed that Alan was distraught, and with good reason: he had just lost his significant other. Robin wondered what it would be like to have someone care about you that much. It must be nice, even if it sometimes ended in affronts and squabbles.

Unfortunately, Robin never had much luck with relationships. She couldn’t imagine why: she was attractive, bold, bubbly, caring, charming, cheerful, confident, creative, dynamic, energetic, friendly, funny, generous, gentle, honest, imaginative, kind, lively, loyal, optimistic, outgoing, perky, persistent, positive, pretty, proactive, quirky, romantic, sincere, sweet, thoughtful, upbeat, warm, witty, and humble, yet her personality didn’t seem to jell with most people. She wasn’t even popular in the workplace, let alone on a personal level! 

Although Robin had shaken off her greatest (solely in the proportional sense) enemy, she still had to face a heap of criticism from her coworkers. Some people were _so_ judgmental! After all, she had never caused an explosion with a significant blast radius, and her acid spills never burned anyone past the second degree . . .

It was clear that Robin’s coworkers had set unrealistic safety standards. That, or they had some sort of prejudice against her work. But how could that be, when she had contributed so much to InGen? She had been successful in many fields, such as . . . 

 

Such as . . .

 

Well, she had almost healed a sick apatosaurus three years ago, and she was currently a proud supporter of “Casual Friday”. Most impressively, she had discovered a cure for diabetes (though it had been deemed unsafe in testing because it instigated cholera, halitosis, and lycanthropy). 

Other than that, she had an alarmingly low rate of success. Maybe Robin was destined to be the black sheep of InGen.

 

Unless . . .

 

This just might be the _perfect_ time to prove herself! If she could show her peers that she was a responsible, mature, and altogether _awesome_ scientist, maybe they wouldn’t be so cruel to her whenever something went wrong. She might even win employee of the month (if it existed at InGen). Maybe she’d get a medal! Maybe she’d have friends . . .

Then it was settled. She’d have to find the plant lady as soon as possible. To do this, she would call upon her bambiraptor minions (whom she had lovingly named after Santa’s reindeer as an inside joke [with herself]) to track Sattler down. With the help of her sycophantic hirelings, she’d have eyes all over the park. It was _perfect_! 

But she’d better not tell anyone, just in case. She’d have to sneak away while they weren’t paying attention . . .

“Well, I’m off to do _science_ things, if anybody n-”

Robin looked around. Apparently, everyone had left while she was busy fantasizing. How rude. At least it would make sneaking away a lot easier . . .

Robin trotted out the back door. Once she was through, she checked that the coast was clear. She slunk against the side of the building like a secret agent, pausing every so often. She was smooth, graceful, mysterious, deadly, and, most importantly, sneaky.

“Oh! Hi, Robin!”

“GAH!”

“Ooh, sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you!” the custodian apologized, backing away as she batted her arms in a Kung Fu-ish way.

“Frightened? Who’s frightened? Not me!” Robin asserted, leaning on his supply cart, which promptly fell over. She pulled the cart upright and fluffed her coat.

“Urrrh, anyway . . . What are you doing here?”

The man hooted playfully.

“Ho-ho, well I’m just cleaning up all of this glass, see? It’s my job.”

“Right. You’re Stan . . . the sanitation man . . .”

“Throwing garbage in my can,” he chuckled, “Yes, I’ve heard the rhyme. What are YOU up to?”

“Oh, just the usual. Healing animals, concocting medical formulas . . .”

She turned and walked away suavely.

“. . . planning my return to glory . . .” she said with a sinister grin.

“What?”

“Gah! Nothing! I thought you were gone . . .” 

“A janitor’s job is never done.”

“I see . . . carry on,” she said, lacing her fingers together, “I have work to do . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ellie was lost. The jungle was larger than she had anticipated, and it didn’t seem to be getting any sparser. It was possible that she had turned herself around while she was squeezing through the dense foliage, but she had no way of knowing where she might be.

To make matters worse, Ellie was hungry. Really, _really_ hungry. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and her T-Rex metabolism wasn’t doing her any favors.

She pressed her body through two curved monkey pod trees, nearly snapping them in the process. When she finally freed herself from their branches, Ellie found that she was standing at the edge of a murky pond. The water didn’t look too clean, but she was too thirsty to care. She lapped up the water with her giant tongue, ignoring the unfamiliar reflection on the surface of the lake.

_Co-ack!_

She raised her head. A large toad was watching her from a lily pad, croaking neutrally. It blinked, running its nictitating membrane over bleak, horizontal pupils. 

_Co-ack!_

She wondered . . .

 

No, it was a _bad_ idea. She didn’t care _how_ hungry she was: she would _never_ eat a toad.

 

. . . Still, she might not be able to find a decent meal for quite some time . . .

 

Bad idea, bad idea!

 

. . . It might not seem so gross with her new taste buds . . .

 

No, no, no!

 

Before she knew what she was doing, she snapped her jaws shut around the toad, catching the lily pad in her teeth. Ellie shivered. She could feel its legs rubbing against her tongue. Ew . . .

Suddenly, the frog started hopping around in her mouth. Ellie retched. It was wiggling all over the place! She spat it out, disgusted by the sliminess of the animal. It hopped onto another lily pad and sat peacefully.

_Co-ack!_

<Oh, shut up!> she snapped.

Ellie decided that she would have to find civilization soon . . . Before she had the chance to give in to _another_ saurian impulse. She just hoped that Alan had explained everything to the staff . . .

<Hey! Watch it, lady!>

Ellie jumped at the sudden noise. She looked all over for the speaker, but he was nowhere to be seen.

<Down here!>

Ellie turned her head so that she could see the ground. A tiny green dinosaur was standing between her toes, twitching angrily. Ellie blinked. 

< _Well_? Aren’t you going to _apologize_? > he squeaked.

<Are you . . . are you a compsognathus?> Ellie asked, not knowing how to respond.

<Sure am! What are you, a metriacanthosaurus?> he chirped.

<No, T-Rex. Well, actually . . .>

<Bullshit. There hasn’t been a T-Rex on Isla Nublar for over two years. And they wouldn’t ship something as large as you from Sorna.> 

<Sorna?> Ellie echoed dumbly.

<Aw, forget it. You’re obviously dense. It’s true what they say about you big’uns: you’re all brutes!> he spat.

<Hey, watch it, pal! I could eat you for breakfast!> Ellie threatened.

<I’d like to see you try!>

She growled.

<Get lost, pipsqueak!>

When he didn’t obey, Ellie gave him her best _don’t-mess-with-me_ roar. The compsognathus skittered away on tiny legs, squeaking like a rat.

<Cretin!> 

<Jerk!>

Ellie sighed and continued her journey. Of all the things she expected to see on this island, a foul-mouthed compsognathus was _not_ among them. This day was getting weirder and weirder . . .

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Alan and Ian sat in the back of a jeep, calling Ellie’s name as Wu drove them across the park. Ian had somehow acquired a megaphone, though he seemed to be aiming it at Alan, rather than the jungle.

“Ellie! Elliiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!”

“Ah! Ian, get that thing out of my face! My ears are ringing!”

“The car is bouncing up and down. I can’t hold it straight . . .”

“Give it to me,” Alan said, grabbing it from his hands, “Ellie? . . . Ellie? You can come out now! Nobody’s going to hurt you!”

“Man, I hope she’s not already injured. Those guards caught her right in the leg . . .”

Alan glared at Ian.

“What? I’m expressing concern . . .”

“She’ll be fine,” Wu interjected, “The bullets we use for security aren’t strong enough to injure something as large as a T-Rex. Her hide is thick . . .”

“How do we know you aren’t lying?” Alan retorted, “She could be bleeding to death _right now_ . . .”

“I assure you, she is fine. This is _not_ something I take lightly,” Wu replied calmly.

“Well, uh, you seem to have no trouble keeping information from us,” Ian pointed out.

“You found your answers. Isn’t that enough?” Wu asked rhetorically.

“Hardly,” Alan huffed, “We still have _no idea_ what’s going on . . .”

“Yeah, you mind filling us in, Doc?” Ian finished sarcastically.

“Certainly,” Wu said, ignoring Ian’s tone, “The disease, as I’ve told you, functions on various levels. These are measured by the size of dinosaur a person can achieve. Ellie’s limit appears to be the Tyrannosaurus Rex, so she will automatically go to _that_ whenever she’s exposed to electrical stimuli. She does, however, have other dinosaurs stored within her system, which can be accessed at any time. Think of it as a cup. The larger your glass is, the more water you can hold, but you’ll have no trouble filling it up halfway.”

“Would she have had to come into contact with these dinosaurs?” Alan asked.

“Yes, though the disease is very contagious. Even indirect contact could result in an infection.”

Alan narrowed his eyes.

“And is there anything _else_ you’re not telling us? . . .”

Wu hesitated.

“Well, she may experience some _minor_ side-effects from the DNA she carries . . .”

“ _Please_ tell me she’s not going to undergo a spontaneous change in gender . . .” Alan groaned with dread.

“No, no! Nothing like that!” Wu insisted, “But she will be able to communicate with certain theropods.”

“Vocally?”

“Yes.”

“Anything else?”

“Has she shown any signs of lysine deficiency?”

“No . . . I mean, I don’t think so . . .” Alan stammered, “I wouldn’t know. If she IS lysine deficient, does that mean we have a time limit to reach her?”

“Probably not. Our nurse was supposed to secretly administer a cure for the lysine contingency. We’ll have to confirm whether or not she was able to do so before your little squabble.”

Alan leaned back in his seat and exhaled deeply.

“Don’t worry, Alan,” Ian said reassuringly, “Ellie’s a capable woman. Besides, nobody in their right mind would _dare_ cross a T-Rex!”

“Actually, she can only remain in her highest form for three hours at a time,” Wu explained.

Ian grimaced.

“Well, I’m sure she can handle this situation anyway . . . right?”

Alan sighed.

“Let’s not wait to find out.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

Ellie stood at the bottom of the perimeter fence, wondering which direction was North. It was hard to see the sun’s position with her new eyes, and she needed to know where to go next. She would have to follow the fence until she could identify a familiar structure, but if she were to head north, she could easily navigate a safe route to the Visitors’ Center by following the power cables. If she headed south, however, her chances of running into purple-card workers greatly increased, as did her likelihood of being shot.

Ellie teetered back and forth on her feet. She was beginning to feel lightheaded, though it didn’t seem to be hunger-related, which was odd. Stranger still, Ellie noticed that she was beginning to glow. What started as a faint aura eventually escalated to a full-blown radiance. Ellie panicked. She didn’t want to spontaneously combust! Fortunately for her, she didn’t seem to be dying, in fact, she was in no pain at all. She could feel herself shrinking, which meant . . .

“I’m not a T-Rex!” Ellie whooped, clapping her hands and giggling like a ninny.

Thankfully, she had demorphed from her saurian form (fully-clothed, too), which would make her trip home a cinch. Now all she had to do was head north, find the Visitors’ Center, and get the hell off this island.

<Chee-roop!>

Ellie jumped. A compsognathus was perched on a decaying log, chirping cutely.

“Hey there, little guy. You gave me quite a fright . . .” she cooed.

Another compsognathus joined him.

“And now you have a friend . . .” she remarked nervously.

A third compsognathus jumped up beside them. Ellie began to walk backwards.

“I’ll- I’ll just be leaving now . . .”

<Get her!> the first compsognathus shrieked.

Ellie stumbled backwards, running from a horde of twittering compys, who chased her like a flock of ravenous birds. The ground was abuzz with tiny green bodies, all following Ellie as she crashed through the underbrush. They pecked at her heels, sometimes grabbing hold of her shoelaces and causing her to stumble. Thinking fast, Ellie grabbed a low-hanging tree branch and hoisted herself up. The compys were unsure what to do at first, snapping at the air in frustration. Ellie climbed higher as they began to scramble up the tree trunk, using the bark to wall-jump towards her dangling legs. She made it to the highest branch, kicking away the few compys who knew how to climb. One particularly large compsognathus stepped onto her branch. She slammed her foot against the bark.

_CRACK!_

The bough began to splinter with the sudden impact. A rift formed halfway down the branch, revealing the beige linings of the cambium and sapwood. Ellie shifted her legs nervously. Suddenly, the limb lurched downwards, slapping the top of the perimeter fence. The sudden shower of sparks frightened the compys, who skittered out of sight. Their absence went unnoticed, however, for the limb was now sliding across the top of the fence. Although she managed to pull herself away from the fizzling cables, Ellie was unable to grab at anything to save her from the fall. She landed on the ground with a hollow _whump_. It wasn’t a particularly painful landing, but it winded Ellie all the same.

After catching her breath, Ellie brushed herself off and examined the situation. The branch had landed beside her (thankfully), and the fence appeared to be fully functional.

It was odd, Ellie thought, that no one had chopped down the tree, as it was clearly dangerous to let it grow so close to the fence. It was a good thing the falling branch hadn’t started a fire . . .

It took a while for Ellie to fully comprehend the gravity of her situation. The fall had left her mildly disoriented, though she had only run a short distance beforehand. Despite her negligible change in position, her journey had suddenly become a whole lot less simple.

 

She was on the other side of the fence.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

High above Mount Sibo, an interesting phenomenon was taking place. A vortex of nimbostrati was swirling ominously at the tip of the peak, creating a galaxy-shaped tempest over the island. The spectacle was haunting, to say the least. There was no lightning, no wind, and no rain. The vast behemoth of vapor made no sound whatsoever as it rotated. Even the jungle seemed to be calm in its presence. 

The tinnitus-inducing silence was deceptive in nature, as it implied tranquility and peace. In reality, the quietude was laced with fear and suspense. No creature dared to make their presence known. To do so would be akin to banging pots and pans together while a murderer was on the loose. On days such as these, it was possible to hear the creaking of a butterfly’s wings.

There were no humans near the northwest mountains of Isla Nublar. Aside from the quickly-fading scars of InGen’s infrastructure, the land was pristine, wild, and untamed. It was almost a true Jurassic equilibrium. 

The key factor that differentiated the northern part of the island from the eastern ecosystem was the abundance in carnivores. There was certainly no shortage in predation, from the hererrasaurs who lived beneath the unfinished roller coaster to the allosaurs who hunted by the seaside cliffs. Even the park’s Tyrannosaurus Rex had found refuge up North, though InGen’s scientists could no longer determine its exact position, if it was still alive. It was hard to come up with valid data concerning species distribution in the area, for The North was something of a mystery to InGen. The security cameras and motion sensors had been rendered useless ever since the incident, and nobody dared fix them. At InGen, it had become taboo to even _mention_ The North, and with good reason. It was nearly impossible to travel through the mountains without being attacked by some sort of animal, whether it be a theropod or a particularly aggressive herbivore. Aside from Wu’s expeditions to recover infant specimens, the land was strictly off-limits to the employees of InGen. This rule was never argued. It was suicide to venture past the perimeter fence, especially when one could find themselves in The Valley of Mists . . .

All in all, The North was an accident waiting to happen, and everybody knew it.   
It was no surprise, then, that a billowing tempest had begun to form at Sibo’s summit. The celestial maelstrom was, after all, a reflection of the jungle below. 

As it migrated across the sky, the massive cloud grew larger and larger. Slowly, it blotted out the sun, extending its reach over the southern plains like a shadowy blanket. Every so often, the depths of the tempest would be illuminated by a bolt of lightning, which cut through the darkness like a slit pupil in a cat’s eye. This was followed by the grumble of thunder: a threatening growl from the belly of a bloodthirsty beast. One might _expect_ thunder and lightning from a storm such as this. Even so, there was something unsettling about the way it moved. 

Perhaps it was the speed of the cloud that gave it a lifelike quality. More likely, it was the lack of organization in its motion. Those who witnessed the storm couldn’t quite put their finger on what made it so frightening. Among the hundreds of scientists, mechanics, and miscellaneous employees who tried to explain the phenomenon, there was only one person who allowed herself to identify the trait in question. 

As she headed for the East Dock, Alma Rodriguez stared at the sky with awe. She hoped that the storm wouldn’t interfere with her travel plans. In her fifteen years of nursehood, Alma had never once resigned from a job. These past few days, however, had been so harrowing that she had had no choice but to quit before the next big disaster. Between death, disease, and employee-based combat, there was really no reason to stay on Isla Nublar. Alma knew this, and she didn’t plan to stick around for much longer.

Alma was not particularly intelligent. She was unable to see the world through a broader lens. Despite this (or maybe because of it), she knew exactly what bothered her about the storm. As the cloud formation headed south, the jagged rim of vapor curled over the trees in many places. These extending branches were oddly-shaped, especially for a thundercloud.

 

The segments, Alma thought, looked strikingly similar to sickle-shaped claws.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

It was raining.

 

Ellie had found refuge beneath a blooming cycad, but she was far from dry. The rain trickled through the leaves in thin streams, sometimes soaking her hair as the droplets changed their course. No matter which way she shifted, the water always found her. Always. She may as well be out in the full rain. At least she would be soaked evenly . . .

Ellie plucked a heart-shaped leaf off a neighboring bush and filled in the largest gap above her. After a minute or two, it collapsed under the weight of the rain, drenching her from head to toe. Although she was initially stunned, Ellie found the strength to give a pitiful laugh.

She knew that she must look like hell. Her hair was tangled and half-undone, her clothing was covered in mud and leaves, and she had scrapes all over her legs from the fall off the tree. Most impressively, she was still bleeding lightly from her bullet wounds. As an added bonus, she had a u-shaped bite mark on her ankle, though she couldn’t remember when she had acquired it. Apparently, the compys were frisky little buggers.

Ellie sighed. 

Two years ago, she couldn’t have imagined anything worse than the Jurassic Park fiasco. It was easily the _worst_ experience of her life, and she had wanted nothing more than to forget the whole thing. She should have known that it was impossible to escape InGen’s grasp. Hell, she should have known that returning to Jurassic Park was a _terrible_ idea to begin with! 

Ellie could feel her energy depleting as she came to terms with her situation. For some reason, her usual let’s-make-the-best-of-things attitude wasn’t kicking in, and it frightened her. She had never felt so alone, not even during the first incident. 

Although she didn’t know it, Ellie was slowly slipping into a dangerous state of mind. Instead of planning a route home, she thought about all of the ways she could die in the jungle. If she didn’t freeze to death overnight, she’d probably be eaten by some kind of dinosaur. Maybe she’d starve to death . . .

Ellie wondered what her funeral would be like. Would InGen allow an autopsy? Would her family know how she died? There was no way of knowing, Ellie decided. Not that it mattered. Her mother would probably hire some fancy botanist to arrange her flowers. There would be black roses, white orchids, and every single clichéd flower known to man. How ironic. There wouldn’t be an open-casket, of course, since her body would most likely be torn to pieces, but there would be a nice photo beside the coffin, probably blurred in the background for dramatic effect. There would be speeches, of course, mostly from her colleagues, though she couldn’t imagine what anyone would have to say about her. Something along the lines of “she was always enthusiastic and cheerful”, Ellie guessed. Finally, her family and friends would say their last goodbyes. Her parents would go first, of course, as they always had, then Aunt Heather and Uncle Sage, then Alan . . .

 

 

Ellie bit her lip. Alan was probably looking for her at this very second, and here she was planning her own funeral! She couldn’t give up so easily, not when he was going out of his way to save her . . .

There was still hope. As long as she didn’t lose her fighting spirit, Ellie had a good chance of finding her way home. No matter how much she wanted to wallow in her own misery, giving up would be a selfish thing to do. She couldn’t let Alan feel as though he had failed her: he had already promised that no harm would come to her. For _his_ sake, Ellie would have to prove that she respected his oath. Come rain or shine, hell or high water, Ellie vowed to survive anything and everything that was thrown her way.

As Ian so often said, life would find a way.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“Ellie?! Ellie?! Ell-”

“Save your voice, Alan, you’ve been shouting for hours . . .” Ian hummed solemnly.

Wu slowed the jeep to a stop.

“It’s starting to rain . . .” he pointed out redundantly.

“All the more reason to keep looking!” Alan snapped.

Wu sighed.

“It will be dark soon. Maybe we should continue our search tomorrow . . .”

“That is absolutely out of the question!” Alan hissed, “Ellie is still out there . . .”

“She really isn’t in much danger,” Wu replied calmly, “She’s within the perimeter . . .”

“I don’t _care_!” Alan bellowed, “We are NOT leaving her alone, not now, not ever!”

Wu turned to Ian.

“Mr. Malcolm, surely YOU understand the circumstances . . .” he prompted.

“I do,” Ian replied.

Alan began to speak, but Ian held up a finger to silence him.

“The, uh, predicament is as follows: we are exhausted, hungry, and low on morale. On top of this, we are about to get rained on. All in all, we are not happy campers.”

“Ian . . .” Alan pleaded.

“But . . .” Ian continued, “Although we may feel shitty right now, we have to remember that Ellie is probably ten times as miserable as we are, and it would be a huge mistake to abandon her in the wilderness.”

Alan nodded. 

“Thank you, Ian,” he said with a newfound respect. The two men stared at Wu with a pertinacious air. It was clear that neither of them would budge.

“Look . . .” Wu sighed, “There’s no need to be martyrs. We’ll extend our search radius and double our men, but you two can return to the hotel for now.”

Alan shook his head stubbornly. Ian crossed his arms.

“We aren’t going anywhere,” Alan affirmed.

Wu sneered.

“Fine. I’ll give you a choice. You can either return of your own free will, or you can be dragged back by my security guards.”

“So you’re threatening us now?” Alan asked.

“It would appear so,” Wu hissed.

“You can’t hold us hostage! We have rights!” Ian shouted dramatically.

“You are NOT being held hostage,” Wu insisted, “If you want to be heroes, fine, have it your way, but you’re only hindering our efforts.”

“What do you mean, ‘ _hindering your efforts’_? This whole thing is _your_ fault!” Ian sputtered accusingly.

“We are not liable-”

“Feel free to drop the corporate facade, Wu. We all know you screwed up,” Alan stated bluntly.

“Don’t be insolent! You have _no_ right to challenge my authority-”

“We damn well do!” Alan bellowed, “Until Ellie is safe in my arms, her blood is on your hands . . .”

Ian wasn’t listening anymore. He had noticed something peculiar going on in the underbrush. A hand was waving at him from behind a tree, beckoning him to come over. When he didn’t respond, Robin jumped out of a bush and started making frantic gestures. Ian surmised that she was trying to mime out instructions. Either that, or she needed immediate medical attention.

“-can’t take this to court! Who are they going to believe, InGen or a lunatic who claims that dinosaurs exist? Just ask your friend how well HIS rebellious streak turned out . . .”

Ian scoffed.

“I find your disdain amusing. I’d deck you for good measure, but luckily for you, I have more important things to do. Hold my coat, Alan, I gotta take a whizz.”

He handed Alan his jacket and kicked open the car door.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Wu roared.

Ian didn’t break his pace.

“Oh, but I am, Doc. Unless you feel like scrubbing down your car, that is . . .” he said with a smirk.

Wu growled.

“Hurry up, then. And don’t get any ideas . . .”

“What are you, the tinkle-police?” Ian shouted over his shoulder.

“Supercilious bastard! Go on, and be done with it!”

Wu shook his head.

“I’ve been far too lenient with you two, but I assure you, I won’t give an inch from now on . . .”

“You may be king of this island, but your power here is limited,” Alan avowed with a grin.

“And why’s that?” Wu hissed.

Alan smiled coyly.

“Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ian ran into the jungle and crouched behind a shrub. He waved at Robin, who crawled over on her hands and knees, trying to avoid Wu’s line of sight.

“Alright, you have my attention. What do you want?” Ian whispered.

“I have important information,” Robin twittered in a conspiratorial tone.

“Make it quick: Wu thinks I’m taking a leak,” he hissed.

Robin raised an eyebrow.

“Well, can YOU think of a better excuse?” he grumbled.

“Fair point,” she said with a shrug.

Ian waited. 

“. . . Well? . . .”

“Well, what?” Robin asked naively.

“Didn’t you have something to _tell_ me?” Ian pressed.

“Right. I know how to find Ellie,” she beamed proudly.

“That’s great! What-”

“MALCOLM!”

“Shit. I don’t want to blow my cover. Tell me later.”

“Where? How?”

“Meet me at the hotel. I’ll get Alan to come along too.”

“Cool! I’ve always wanted to host a secret meeting . . .” Robin gurgled mischievously, “Can we meet at midnight?”

“Sure, sure, whatever you want.”

“MR. MALCOLM!”

“I’m coming!” 

He stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants.

“Gotta run. See you later . . .”

“Wink, wink!” Robin added. Ian decided that it was best to ignore her less-than-subtle remark. He dashed over to the jeep and hopped over the side.

“What took you so long?” Alan asked, throwing him his jacket.

Ian shrugged.

“We’ll never find Dr. Sattler at this rate!” Wu grumbled irritably, “I’m going to drop you two off at the hotel.”

“What? You can’t do that! We- oof!”

Ian elbowed Alan in the gut.

“Maybe we should listen to Wu,” he said with a wink, “We’ll find Ellie eventually . . .”

“And what makes you think that?” Alan whispered.

Ian smiled.

“A little bird told me.”


	9. The Post Mortem Reaction

The Post Mortem Reaction

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Alan murmured as they arrived at the hotel. Ian shrugged and opened the door to the lobby.

“It’s better than listening to Wu,” he snorted, “And if Robin can’t help us, we could always sneak out and find Ellie on our own.”

“I guess,” Alan sighed with exhaustion, “But tell me this: what if we get caught?”

“Relax, everything is going to be- SHIT!”

Alan frowned in confusion. Ian promptly dove under a mahogany table, cowering like a mouse as he put his hands over his head. At first, Alan was perplexed by his behavior. Then he saw Dr. Harding walking down the hall.

“Dr. Grant! I heard about what happened this morning . . .” he said uneasily.

“I suppose everyone knows by now, huh?” Alan huffed. Harding nodded grimly.

“You know, if there’s anything I can do to help . . .”

“No, no. It’s fine. Wu’s already out on patrol.”

“Yes, I imagine he’d be eager to find her, with his liability and all . . . Say, is it true that Ian Malcolm is on site?” Harding jabbered.

Alan shifted his feet uncomfortably.

“Er, yeah . . . but I haven’t seen him around recently . . .”

“That’s strange. Did you know that he’s dating my daughter?” Harding asked casually.

Alan gulped.

“He- He might have mentioned it once or twice . . .” he stammered.

“Sarah’s nuts about him,” Harding continued, “But I have my doubts. I don’t think he’s particularly upfront.”

Alan cocked his head.

“What makes you say that?”

Harding pointed to the ground. Ian’s black leather shoes were protruding quite visibly from underneath the tablecloth.

“Ah.”

Harding turned away.

“If you see Ian, would you tell him that I’d like to meet him? He seems like a decent guy, but I can’t be sure if he keeps avoiding me.”

“I don’t think he’s avoiding you,” Alan said with a wink, “He just needs some time to figure things out.”

“Sounds good to me. Just let me know if he changes his mind . . .”

“Sure, no problem.”

Once Harding was out of sight, Ian stood up and fluffed his jacket casually. He leaned against the wall and crossed his ankles nonchalantly, picking at his nails as though nothing out the ordinary had happened.

“That man has it in for me, I swear!”

Alan just rolled his eyes.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After a few minutes, it became clear that midnight was a terrible time to host a secret meeting. It wasn’t even ten o’clock, and Ian was already bored out of his mind. To pass the time, Alan suggested that they play Monopoly. Ian didn’t know why Alan had packed a board game to begin with, but it turned out to be loads of fun. For tokens, they picked the race car and the top hat. Neither of them really knew the rules, so they made them up as they went. Alan ended up winning, but Ian was still proud of his stack of hotels on Fleet Street. The game didn’t last as long as they had anticipated (most likely due to the lenient rules), so they had to come up with a new plan. When Ian saw that Ellie’s red yarn was unattended, he had a brilliant idea.

“You sure this is allowed?” Alan asked as he unrolled the yarn.

“Of course not, but it’ll be fun!” Ian babbled happily.

“Sometimes, your immaturity surprises me,” Alan sighed, “But then I remember who I’m talking to.”

“It’s all relative, Al. I need to be extra childish to counteract your seriousness.”

Alan chuckled.

“You know, you sound just like Ellie.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Alan nodded.

“She says that I bring out the best in her, and that she likes being around me ‘cause she feels like a better person.”

“By comparison?”

Alan snorted.

“Smartass.”

They spread out the yarn to its full length. Once they had untangled the ends, they started wrapping it around bedposts and doorknobs. 

“So what’s this ‘Sarah’ of yours like?” Alan chatted idly.

“What do you mean?” Ian asked as he tied a piece of string to the smoke detector.

“Well, I dunno. Is she nice? Does she ever ask about Jurassic Park?” Alan wondered aloud.

“Yes, and _double yes_. She’s _obsessed_ with the place.”

Alan frowned. 

“Do you think she might be trying to squeeze information out of you?”

“Oh, sure. She’d do anything to learn more about this god-forsaken park. But we love each other. We really do,” Ian said whimsically.

“You don’t really strike me as the kind of guy who’d fall in love,” Alan remarked.

“Hey, I’m complex!” Ian jested, “Beneath all of this leather and charisma, there’s a sweet, loving, sentimental man.”

Alan gave a snorting laugh.

“Good one.”

“No, really!” Ian insisted, “For instance, I once bought Sarah _flowers_.”

“What kind?”

“Hell if I know,” Ian guffawed. Alan shook his head.

“You should pay attention to these things. It may come back to haunt you.”

“How?” Ian asked mockingly.

“Well . . . Say, for instance, that you happened to buy her favorite flower by accident. If you don’t learn its name beforehand, you won’t be able to find it again.”

“Oh, women don’t pay attention to that shit,” Ian scoffed.

“They do,” Alan replied darkly.

“Well, you’re dating a paleobotanist. It’s different,” Ian said with a shrug. Alan raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe so, but it helps to know these kinds of things.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because women appreciate it,” Alan affirmed with a serious air.

“Sarah’s never really been into romance,” Ian countered.

Alan began to pace.

“You may THINK that she’s above such things, but you’d be wrong,” he advised.

“Why do you say that?”

Alan adopted an educational tone of voice.

“You see, Ian, a woman is a lot like a tree . . .”

“Oh, boy. I can tell that this is going to be patronizing,” Ian huffed, rolling his eyes.

“First, you have the bark. This is what a woman _appears_ to be, but you can’t find out who she really is until you examine her deeper layers.”

“So I should chop Sarah in half?” Ian joked.

“Next, you have the cambium. This is the personality,” Alan continued.

“Does that mean that the bark represents attractiveness?” Ian teased.

“We already talked about the bark,” Alan interjected. Ian waved his hand floppily.

“Fine. Continue.”

“Deeper down, there’s the sap wood. It represents the emotional needs of your partner.”

“Ha! A play on words,” Ian pointed out.

“Precisely. The sap wood is the primordial desire in women to eat chocolate and watch romantic comedies.”

“Is the male equivalent bacon and action thrillers?” Ian wondered.

“Finally, you have the heartwood,” Alan said, ignoring him.

“And what’s in there?”

Alan frowned.

“The heart, Ian. It’s called _heart_ wood,” he groaned.

“You DO know that the heart isn’t actually responsible for emotions, right?” Ian yawned. Alan rolled his eyes.

“It’s a metaphor, Ian,” he grumbled with frustration.

“Eh, whatever. In all honesty, I think that you should leave the tree analogies to Ellie.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, how about this: an angry woman is like a velociraptor . . .”

“Graceful, cunning, and deadly?” Ian guessed.

“No. She rips out your guts and eats you alive,” Alan said as he tied the last piece of yarn, “Voilà! We have laser-beams!”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

It was almost midnight. 

Robin stared at her watch intensely, silently willing it to go faster. She intended to arrive at the stroke of midnight, right on queue. It was a pity that there were no clocks around: she would have enjoyed the dramatic flair of a resonant chime.

11:53

Robin sighed. She had arrived _way_ too early, and there was nothing to keep her occupied while she waited. Maybe she could pace for a bit . . .

11:55

Five minutes. That wasn’t too long.

Oh. 

It was still 11:53. She really needed glasses . . .

11:54

Time was so _slow_. Why couldn’t the earth spin faster? 

11:54

Come on . . .

11:54

Any time, now . . .

11:54

Oh, forget it!

Robin knocked on the door. She could hear a muted kerfuffle from inside.

“Shhh! No, I’ll get it . . . Quiet! We have to check . . .”

Robin shuffled her feet impatiently.

“Who is it?” a cheerful voice sang from inside.

“Robin,” she whispered, checking that she was alone in the hallway.

“What’s the secret password?” Ian joked.

“Wallaby!”

“What are you- Oh, never mind. Come in,” he said, opening the door.

Robin stepped inside. The room was decorated very peculiarly. There seemed to be red yarn tied to every knob and protruding structure, including the smoke detector.

“We made lasers,” Ian explained.

“What for?” Robin asked cheerfully.

“Just for fun,” Alan said with a shrug.

“You wouldn’t _believe_ how agile Alan is! He’s a gazelle!” Ian gaped.

“I am NOT a gazelle!” Alan huffed, “I’m a cheetah.”

“Well, the game is no fun if you don’t play fair,” Ian quipped.

Robin’s eyes darted back and forth awkwardly. She wasn’t able to get a word in edgewise. Maybe it was best to smile and nod . . .

“Enough banter, Ian. We should get down to business,” Alan insisted.

“Sure, sure. So what’s your plan?” Ian asked, leading Robin into the room.

“Well . . . As you know, I am also a carrier of the theropod virus, just like Ellie. Because of this, I can communicate with certain dinosaurs.”

“But how can you be sure that they understand you?” Alan asked. Robin rubbed her chin.

“It’s hard to explain. When I listen to the theropods, it’s like hearing another language, only I translate it subconsciously. I certainly didn’t expect it, at first. For a while, I thought I was hearing voices!” she laughed nervously.

“So can you tell the, uh, dinosaurs to keep us off the menu?”

Robin shrugged.

“I could try, but there’s no guarantee they’ll listen. Besides, I can only understand bambiraptors, allosaurs, dilophosaurs, and compsognathuses. Well, raptors too, but they aren’t really the friendly type. Other than that, I can’t really make out what the others are saying. It’s like listening to German. I can pick up some words, but the linguistics are completely different.”

“And what does this have to do with your plan?” Alan asked patiently. Robin grinned.

“I’m glad you asked. See, I’m on good terms with the bambies, so I told them to keep an eye out for Ellie. Once she’s been spotted, we’ll nab a jeep and rescue her.”

“Brilliant,” Ian said, clapping his hands, “But you’re forgetting several important details.”

“Like what?” Robin whined, disappointed that he had _so little_ faith in her scheme.

“Well, uh, first of all, how do you plan to get a jeep?”

“I stole my supervisor’s keys,” she giggled, shaking them childishly.

“And how long do you expect the bambies to take? What if your supervisor notices that his keys are missing?”

“Not long, and he won’t: Jay’s always losing his trinkets,” she smirked.

“And the bambies?” Alan pressed.

“They should be arriving at my flat at any moment,” Robin asserted.

“Then what are we doing _here_?” Alan exclaimed. Robin gasped excitedly and clapped her hands.

“Why don’t we all go down to my place?” she twittered, “I mean, if you guys don’t mind . . .”

“Sure, why not?” Ian said.

“Omigoshomigoshomigosh! This is going to be _SO_ much fun! We should pull an all-nighter! I have plenty of jellybeans and whipped cream, so we can stay up as long as we want!”

Something about Ian’s smile indicated that the idea of a sugar-filled Robin was horrifying to him. Alan was harder to read, but Robin could tell that he had reservations too.

“Y- You know . . . If you guys _want_ to, that is. Maybe it’d be more efficient if I went alone . . .” she whimpered. Alan exhaled slowly.

“No, no. We’ll come with you. The sooner we find Ellie, the better.”

“YAY! I mean . . . good,” she said professionally, “I hope you’re not allergic to cats.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

It wasn’t long before the three of them encountered their first major setback. By a matter of (extremely unfortunate) coincidence, the crew ran into Robin’s supervisor on the way to her room. She quickly whipped up some cock-and-bull story about showing Alan and Ian the new gumball machine, but Jay didn’t buy it for a second. Because of this, they had to pay a visit to the arcade. After purchasing their candy, they snuck out the back door and resumed their mission. 

“Sorry about that. He can be a real jerk sometimes,” Robin apologized.

“Let’s just hope that we don’t need to take any more detours,” Ian mumbled.

As the group approached Robin’s room, it was possible to hear a muffled dialogue taking place inside. After jimmying the lock, Robin opened the door and ran up to her television set.

“Sorry, I had a movie playing,” she hummed awkwardly, “Do either of you know how to operate a DVD machine?”

Ian stepped forward.

“Let me try . . .”

He bent over and began fiddling with the device.

‘-our world, and the world was dark because there weren’t any robins, and the robins represented lo-’

The screen flickered, but quickly went to static. Ian pushed the channel button.

‘ _So no one told you life was gonna be this way . . ._ ’

Ian shrugged.

“Well, at least I got it onto TV. Kind of. Any other ideas?”

“Hey, don’t ask _me_ ,” Alan urged, “Technology is NOT my strong suit.”

“I know that feeling,” Robin drawled, “Jay kept ranting and raving about his DVD player, so I decided to give it a try. So far, I haven’t had any luck with my machine, but he keeps pestering me about it . . .”

“And you, uh . . . trust him?” Ian asked, though his tone suggested that he already knew the answer.

“No, no . . . Jay’s been wrong about this kind of thing before. But Trixie is starting to sell her videocassettes, which makes me wonder . . .”

“Are they damaged?” Alan asked.

“Not at all!” Robin marveled, “They’re brand new, and she’s selling them for only _ten dollars_!

“Ten dollars? She must be crazy!” Ian piped up as he unplugged the television set.

“That’s what _I_ said, but she’s convinced that they’re becoming obsolete.”

Without warning, a fluffy mass of ginger fur rubbed against Alan’s leg.

“Mrrraaa . . .” 

Robin picked it up.

“Sorry, I forgot to introduce you to Orange. Say hi, kitty . . .”

The cat stared vacantly at Alan with strabismic eyes.

“Awwwrrr . . .” it gurgled stupidly.

“Isn’t he a cutie?” Robin gushed, “He’s a persian, you know. Very fancy.”

“Garrrwl . . .”

Ian examined the cat closely.

“Is he- Is he supposed to be making those sounds? . . .” he asked nervously. Robin laughed.

“Oh, sure. Orange is _always_ like this. I think he might be a tad inbred . . .”

The cat stuck out its tongue and squished it up his nostril. 

“He’s probably just ahead of his time,” Ian mumbled sarcastically, “So, where are these bambies of yours?”

“They travel quickly. If they’ve found Ellie, we’ll know soon enough.”

“That’s a vague estimate,” Alan grumbled, “What if they don’t return?”

Robin frowned.

“They _won’t_ let us down.”

“How do you know?” Ian asked.

“I made them swear the Camp Mihkwaskikanew Oath,” she proclaimed regally.

“The what?” they asked in unison.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never been to Camp Mihkwaskikanew . . .”

“Errr . . .”

Robin gasped with indignance.

“Camp Mihkwaskikanew is the _best_ camp in the world! We learned to pitch tents, tie knots, and light fires.”

“Really? That’s fascinating,” Ian drawled with feigned interest.

“Well, the _other_ kids did, anyway. I just sat in the cabin and read Charlotte’s Web. It was my favorite . . .” Robin gushed.

“Ellie’s too,” Alan sighed.

“Really? That’s neat . . .” Robin twittered, “Do you want to hear the Camp Mihkwaskikanew cheer?”

“I get the feeling we have no choice in the matter,” Ian grumbled.

“SHOW YOUR SPIRIT, SHOW YOUR FLAIR! WAVE YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR! GO MIHKWASKIKANEW! GO MIHKWASKIKANEW! PEE-PEE-TSOO! PEE-PEE-TSOO! PEE-PEE-TSOOOOOOOOOH!”

Orange howled along with her as she cheered. Alan and Ian stepped backwards slowly.

“Well, it looks like the bambies didn’t show up after all . . .” Ian said quickly, “Maybe we should find-”

<SCREET!>

“That’s them! That’s them!” Robin cried as she opened the patio door.

<SCREETSCREET!> a single bambi shrieked.

“What’s he saying?” Alan asked.

“Nothing yet: he’s just getting my attention.”

She began chirping at the bambi, who listened intently. Orange slunk away from the strange creature with fright, eventually sticking his head under the fridge. After exchanging a brief dialogue with the tiny raptor (presumably), Robin turned to her guests.

“Blitzen says that Ellie was spotted by a compsognathus earlier today.”

“And?” Alan pressed.

“He saw a rival pack chase her along the perimeter fence. She fell out of a tree and landed on the other side, but she wasn’t seriously injured.”

“Thank god! Where is she now?” Alan asked.

“Hang on, I’ll check.”

Robin picked up the dinosaur and held him at eye level. She barked and hooted at the animal with a serious expression. When he answered, Robin’s face turned pale. She set him down gently and turned to Alan.

“Well? Where is she?” he asked impatiently.

Robin bit her lip.

“She’s headed North.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“HELLO?” Ellie screamed, “IS ANYONE THERE?”

Although she had reservations about calling for help, Ellie decided that she wasn’t going to be rescued if she didn’t make her presence known. Then again, she could be found by a predator just as easily. Still, she was having trouble finding another way over the fence. Dilemmas, dilemmas. Weren’t there supposed to be guards posted at even intervals? Were they on break? Maybe they were looking for her . . .

If all else failed, Ellie supposed that she could find a way to pry open the wiring. That being said, it was dangerous to do so, especially if another animal could breach the perimeter afterwards. It was just as well: she had nothing to cut the wires with, and she didn’t want to risk injury (Was a wooden stick an insulator if it was wet?). For the time being, she’d have to call for help.

“HELLO? ALAN? IAN? ANYBODY?”

No response. Maybe she’d have to change her tactics . . .

“¡Socorro!” she shouted, trying desperately to remember what she had learned in her fifth grade Spanish class.

“Um . . . Auxilio, por favor?” Ellie added weakly.

_SNAP!_

“Hello? Is someone there?”

Deep within the bushes, Ellie could hear a light whispering. Someone was on _her_ s _ide of the fence_. . .

“I- I need help . . .”

She froze. A graceful figure had appeared a few yards from where she was standing.

The animal blended in well among the foliage: its leathery skin was as brown as tree bark. It stood on two legs, scanning the area with bright green eyes. Its teeth glimmered like ivory knives. There was no mistaking it: the animal was a velociraptor. Ellie ducked down and grabbed a rock. She didn’t know whether she should fight or flee. Luckily for her, she hadn’t been spotted-

<SCREEEEEEEEE!> 

The attack came suddenly, from the left and right. Two juvenile raptors burst from the foliage, leaping at Ellie from each side. She rolled over and threw her stone. Luckily, she managed to catch one of the raptors in the jaw. 

<AH! She hit me!> he said in a distinctly male voice.

<And there’s more where that came from!> Ellie hissed, throwing another rock.

<What the- OW! Hey, stop that!> he whimpered.

Before Ellie could escape, the third raptor blocked her path.

<Don’t let her push you around! Grab her!> she screeched.

<But she->

<NOW!> 

Oh, god. She was teaching them to hunt! Ellie was about to be eaten by _raptors-in-training_!

<I’ll get her! I’m faster!> the other male boasted.

Ellie scuttled away as quickly as possible, but she couldn’t outrun the raptor. He took a running pounce at her, knocking them both into the fence. They fell apart, stunned from electricity. 

<She’s immobilized! Now’s your chance!>

 

This was the end.

 

There was no way she was getting out of this one. 

Ellie closed her eyes. She was about to be eaten alive! If only she had been killed by the electric fence . . .  


Electric fence.  


Wait a minute . . .

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Robin trailed behind Alan and Ian, pleading desperately for them to slow down.

“Look, maybe we should think this through. I don’t-”

She tripped over a loose cable in the hotel lobby.

“I don’t think you two understand what’s at stake here . . .” she finished.

“Of course we do!” Alan snapped, “Ellie’s in danger. That’s all we need to know.”

“Fine, fine,” Robin sighed, “But we aren’t ready for an expedition! The North is a sinister place. There’s raptors and compys and trikes . . .”

“Oh, my!” Ian quipped.

Robin shot him a nasty glance.

“Look, I’m not saying we _shouldn’t_ go, but we ought to arm ourselves or something first . . .”

Alan ignored her and headed out the front door with Ian close behind. Robin growled angrily and ran after them.

“We need guns: _lots_ and _lots_ of guns. If we go out now, we’re sitting ducks!”

“That’s why we’re going to find Wu,” Ian explained.

“WHAT?! Are you _crazy_? You know how unhelpful Wu is! He’s not a leader, he’s not a businessman . . . he’s not even a proper scientist! He’s a _FRAUD_! Besides, it’s almost one o’clock. Do you _really_ think it’s worth waking him up when he’ll just shoot you down anyway?”

Alan stopped.

“She’s got a point.”

“But Wu said he’d send more men to-” Ian began.

“Do you believe him? I don’t see anyone out here,” Alan grumbled.

Robin nodded furiously.

“He’s a liar and a fiend! Mad with power, _that’s_ what he is! He’d do anything to get this park up and running, even if it involves sending people to their deaths. Hammond kept him on a tight leash, but now that Ludlow’s in charge . . .”

“He can’t be restrained,” Ian whispered.

“Well, _kind_ _of_ ,” Robin said, changing her tone, “But the board doesn’t completely own InGen yet, and Hammond’s been fighting desperately to get it back.”

“Will he be able to do it?” Alan asked. Robin rubbed her chin.

“I dunno . . . It seems to me that the two of them are juggling InGen back and forth. It’s like hot-potato, only they each WANT the potato, and it’s filled with dinosaurs. No, wait! I have a better analogy . . .”

“Never mind that!” Alan barked, “We need to solve this problem . . .”

“Right. Instead of wondering what poked a hole in our boat, we need to search for a cork,” Ian added.

Robin smiled.

“Exactly! All Wu cares about is his business, and that’s not going to get us anywhere. We should go out on our own!” she suggested.

“Five minutes ago, you said it was too dangerous . . .” Alan recalled.

“Well, sure! But it’s worth the risk if I can redeem myself.”

“ _What_?”

Uh-oh.

She had said something wrong, hadn’t she? The expression on Alan’s face made her feel like she had been spotted eating a hamburger at a vegetarian buffet. Maybe she could take the edge off her remark . . .

“I mean . . . Well, it’d be nice to get a little respect, right? After we save Ellie, of course . . .”

“You’re just as bad as Wu,” Alan hissed.

“What? I am _NOT_. Wu lies for his own personal gain, whereas I-”

They raised their eyebrows.

“Okay, _fine_. I’m just like Wu. But can you really blame me? I’ve been pushed around my whole life, and especially at InGen! The few friends I _have_ are eaten and maimed right in front of me! Do you know how that _feels_?”

Robin sensed that her defense was slowly evolving into an emotional breakdown.

“I had to _lie_ to my family to keep this place a secret. They won’t even _talk_ to me anymore! The worst part is, everyone else gets to break the rules, but whenever _I_ step out of line, I get pushed into the ditch! They let Harding disclose minor details to his family, they let Trixie steal nail polish from other dimensions, they let Yannick punch an alligator in the face . . . but what happens when _I_ try to do those things? I get the short end of the stick! I’ll bet you didn’t know that Jay is my half-brother, did you? The way he treats me, you’d think we were _mortal enemies_. He told my mother that I was in a mental institution near San José. Do you know how _messed up_ that is?”

Robin sniffed. She didn’t want to cry, but it was beyond her control . . .

“I fail to see how taking a couple of DVDs from another world causes any more time paradoxes than Trixie’s stupid obsession with Shellac! And Yannick? Well, they _fired_ him, but that’s not the whole story. See, the only reason anyone keeps me around is because they think that I’m too _stupid_ to figure anything out. They tell me all of their secrets, and I just have to play along and hope that someone will finally _listen_ to me and _do_ something about it! But they don’t. They never do,” Robin sobbed, “I can’t _live_ like this anymore . . .”

“We’re sorry, Robin, really, we are, but there’s nothing we can do to help you,” Alan said gently, “We don’t stand a chance against InGen.”

Robin shook her head.

“I know. But we can’t just run from our troubles. Neither Hammond nor Ludlow have the power to run this island. Wu controls everything, right down to the genetic fabric of our dinosaurs. Hammond wanted to build a park, Ludlow wanted to make money, but Wu . . .”

“Doesn’t he want to rebuild Jurassic Park too?” Ian asked.

“Not for the same reasons as the others. He wanted his work to be publishable. Now that _that’s_ no longer an option, who do you think is going to be first in line when he sells these secrets?”

“Who?”

Robin shivered.

“Remember how I said that a Wu from a different world wanted to build a genetically modified automaton to do his bidding?”

“Something like that, yeah . . .” Ian recalled.

“You _know_ how dangerous these animals can be . . .” 

“Of course!” Ian confirmed.

“Imagine how much _worse_ they would be if Wu began to redesign them with another purpose in mind.”

“What purpose?” Alan asked.

“ _Military_ purpose.”

“That can’t be legal . . .” Ian interjected.

“Do you think the government _cares_ about the ethics behind genetic engineering? They don’t need to know WHY a creature has teeth, venom, or chromatophores. If they can stay one step ahead of their enemy, they’ll buy _anything_ , no questions asked.”

“But the dinosaurs will turn on them, just like they did here. If genetically enhanced dinosaurs escape on the mainland . . .”

“No. It’s even worse than that,” Robin said darkly.

“Why?” Alan asked, dreading the answer.

“Because their plan is going to work.”

“Impossible,” Ian scoffed, “These animals are unpredictable. They don’t follow orders!”

Robin nodded.

“You’re right.”

She held out her hand and morphed it into a raptor claw.

“But _people_ do.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Needless to say, the velociraptors were NOT expecting a fully-grown T-Rex to appear out of nowhere. The second transformation was smoother than it had been the first time. Ellie didn’t fight it this time: she needed to intimidate the raptors as quickly as possible.

And intimidate them, she did.

Like most animals, raptors don’t possess particularly versatile facial muscles. Sixty-five million years ago, these creatures didn’t follow social queues in a mammalian fashion, and with good reason. There wasn’t much evolutionary advantage to be gained from wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve, as it were. Unlike humans, dinosaurs had no need to communicate their emotions through complex expressions. For this reason, it is hard to tell what a raptor is feeling. Despite this, it was clear to Ellie that these particular raptors were scared _shitless_. It was almost amusing to see them scramble away like frightened seagulls . . . Actually, it was kind of refreshing to be the one scaring people. Even so, Ellie decided to motor it before they could call in reinforcements.

If her last episode was an accurate representation of her condition, she would be able to rely on her size for a few hours. In that time, she would have to avoid any non-saurian animals, namely humans. If she could ask another dinosaur for directions, maybe she could find out where she was headed.

It was worth a try. 

Besides, who in their right mind would argue with a T-Rex?

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“You make a very good point, but what does any of this have to do with Ellie?” Ian said, pushing Robin’s raptor-hand away gently.

“Well, she contains the genetic makeup of one of the most fearsome creatures to walk the Earth. I think you can figure out why she’d be an asset to Wu,” Robin explained pointedly.

“Ellie would _never_ agree to help Wu,” Alan argued.

“I know, but he doesn’t need HER specifically, as long as he has her DNA. As we speak, he’s trying to find a way to transfer the activated virus to men . . . which I find kind of sexist, don’t you?”

“Has he found a way?” Alan asked.

“Not yet, but he’s getting close.”

“How close?”

Robin shrugged.

“I wouldn’t know. He’s trying to find an alternative to the post-mortem reaction, but I doubt-”

“Post-mortem? As in after-death?” Alan wondered.

“Sorry, sometimes I forget that you don’t _know_ things . . . The post-mortem reaction occurs when an infected individual, male or female, is killed by a dinosaur. If the body isn’t significantly damaged, it will be resurrected in saurian form.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Think zombie, but worse. If any one of us gets mauled to death, we come back as that dinosaur. I’ve seen my coworkers _turn on_ each other . . . It’s _not_ pretty.”

“That seems awful. I don’t want to be responsible for the deaths of my friends,” Ian said grimly.

“Well, it might not come to that. It’s possible to restore the person’s memories with strong emotional queues, but only in certain cases. Anyway, we won’t have to worry about that, if we . . . Well, if we try not to die.”

“ _Try not to die_!” Ian mimicked, “Any other bits of advice, ‘O Wise One’?”

“Yes,” a fourth voice hissed.

Wu and his henchmen stepped out of the jungle.

“Don’t disclose company secrets while your boss is in earshot.”


	10. Phase 3

Phase 3

“Let go of me! This is police brutality!”

“We’re not police, ma’am.”

“. . . This is SECURITY GUARD brutality! Help! Heeeeeeeeelp!”

Alan watched in horror as Robin was dragged away. 

“I hope she didn’t upset either of you with her . . . _erroneous_ information,” Wu said plainly.

“I’m telling the truth!” Robin screamed.

“You mustn’t take her tinfoil-hat conspiracies to heart: she’s a tad deranged . . .”

“Wu’s a madman! Run for your lives!” she shrieked as she was dragged over the crest of a hill. Alan and Ian did not move an inch.

“Let her go, Wu,” Alan whispered menacingly.

“You _know_ that I can’t let a potentially dangerous person roam freely: she might hurt someone,” Wu drawled with mock-concern.

“Robin’s not _dangerous_!” Ian exclaimed with disbelief. Wu sneered.

“If you are going to cause trouble, you will have to join her.”

“You’ll have to catch me first . . .” Ian said cockily.

“You can’t run from me,” Wu hissed.

“Feh! You’re not _omnipotent_ , you know,” Ian scoffed.

Wu smiled.

“I don’t _have_ to be. Do you _really_ think that I can’t identify a gimpy leg? Tell me, Mr. Malcolm, was your tibia broken cleanly, or was it a compound fracture? Your limp seems to suggest the latter, though you’ve done well to conceal it.”

Suddenly, Ian’s lack of maneuverability made perfect sense. Alan felt ashamed. How many times had they forced Ian to jog?

“Ian . . .”

“Alan, don’t-”

“Why didn’t you tell us? . . .”

“I- I don’t know . . . I didn’t want you to feel bad.”

“We made you walk up that path . . .”

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light from the other side of the hill.

<SCREETSCREETSCREETSCREET!>

A tiny dinosaur scampered across the field, screeching as it went.

“Don’t let her get away!” Wu shouted.

The dinosaur darted between his legs as he tried to grab it, causing him to fall over in a comedic fashion.

“Should we run?” Ian asked.

“After you.”

As they bolted away from Wu and his pursuing henchmen, Alan and Ian heard the sound of a revving engine. Shortly after, the air was filled with a chorus of confused screams. Above all of the racket, a single victorious cry resounded like Gabriel’s trumpet.

“PEE-PEE-TSOO!”

Robin had somehow hijacked a nearby jeep, and was making her way towards Alan and Ian at an alarming speed.

“Hop in!” she twittered as she screeched to a halt.

“Robin, you are fantastic,” Ian said admiringly.

“I try,” she blushed, “Don’t forget to buckle up: it’s going to be a bumpy ride!”

Robin slammed her foot against the gas pedal, causing them to kick up a cloud of dust before speeding towards Wu and his men. 

“Uh, don’t you think you’re going a bit fast?” Ian shouted over the motor. Alan clung to the sides of his seat with white knuckles.

“If you don’t slow down, we won’t be able to make it around those guards!” he gasped.

Robin grinned insanely.

“We’re not going _around_ them: we’re going _through_ them!”

“WHAT?! Are you _CRAZY_?!” Ian screamed.

“Yes, but that’s beside the point. Hold this.”

Robin plopped a plastic sphere into Ian’s lap.

“Nitrous oxide?” he read from the label.

“It’s laughing gas, Ian,” Alan explained, “Throw it at the guards to buy us some time!”

“When?”

“ _NOW_!” Robin shouted.

Ian pulled the plug and threw the canister behind them. As it released the pressurized gas, the sphere spiraled like a firecracker. 

“Al- _right_!” Ian laughed as they drove away.

“Looks like he was a real _Wu_ -ser after all!” Robin giggled.

Wu staggered and began to roll around on the ground. Soon, his henchmen were cackling like a pack of hyenas. Wu slammed his fist to the ground.

“I’m going to- HAHAHA- _kill_ you, Robin! HAHAHA!”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

It was amazing how much respect Ellie could command when she was a seven-ton dinosaur. Although she hadn’t encountered any more raptors (and she certainly had no problem with that), the herrerasaurs turned out to be quite friendly once she had persuaded them to help her, even sending two escorts to guide her home. That being said, they weren’t particularly bright. Ellie imagined that they were the “jocks” of the park: they seemed intimidating at first, but their crudeness put them at a severe disadvantage. Not that it mattered: as long as they kept their dappled heinies in gear, she’d be back in no time.

<So I says to the compy, I says: you may be the leader of your pack, but I’m bigger than the all of you’s!>

<And wha’dhe say?>

<Oh, I don’t know. They’s hard to understand, them compys. Am I right?> 

The herrerasaur turned to Ellie, awaiting her response.

<Oh, um . . . Yeah,> she stuttered, <Their dialect is _atrocious_ . . . >

With this, they barked jovially, making Ellie jump with surprise.

<Hey, I like this girl. Where’dya say you was from?> the taller herrerasaur gobbled.

<Um, well, you see->

<Stop pestering her, will ya?> the other dinosaur hissed.

<I’m not _pestering_ her! Tell him, doll.>

<Uhhh . . .>

<See? She don’t want to talk to you.>

<There ain’t no harm in askin’ que-shuns. I’m just wond’rin why a dinosaur such as yourself is try’na find the Visitors’ Center. Don’tcha know it’s fulla scientists?> he barked.

<‘Course she knows, you idiot! What, do you think she was born yesterday?> the short one yapped reproachingly.

<Naw, she’s _much_ too big for that. >

<I beg your pardon?> Ellie growled.

<Oh, don’t listen to him. He ain’t never seen a T-Rex before. He don’t know what to expect, see?> the short one chortled.

<So how old are ya, anyways?> the tall one beamed.

<Twenty-eight.>

The herrerasaurs screeched to a halt. Oh, no. She had given herself away, hadn’t she? Even with an extended lifespan, no dinosaur at InGen would be in their twenties by now. Ellie gave herself a mental kick for being so stupid. 

<I . . . I mean eight. Eight years old . . .>

The herrerasaurs exchanged a worried look.

<You know, I could probably find my way back from here . . .> Ellie stammered as she struggled to walk backwards through the underbrush. The herrerasaurs pursued her, slowly adopting a hostile posture.

<You’s a spy, ain’t ya?>

<What? No!> Ellie shrilled.

<You must be one of them shape-shifters!>

<No!>

<Did Wu send you?>

Ellie sighed. She would have to tell the truth. She took a deep breath and looked the dinosaurs straight in the eyes.

<Okay, fine. I’m not a T-Rex, but I don’t mean you two any harm. I don’t work for Wu, in fact, I’m not particularly fond of him, considering he didn’t tell me that I was infected in the first place->

<A likely story. Prepare to die,> the short one hissed.

< _What_? Isn’t that a bit _harsh_? I don’t want any trouble . . . > Ellie stammered.

They fanned out their claws menacingly. Ellie scowled and braced herself for a fight.

<Fine. Have it your way. But you don’t stand a chance against a fully grown T-Rex such as myself . . .>

Suddenly, Ellie began to glow. The herrerasaurs backed away with fright, shielding their eyes. When they lowered their arms, she was back to her usual size. The short one laughed.

<Well, this makes things a _lot_ easier . . . > he hissed.

Ellie backed away slowly. She knew that she couldn’t outrun the dinosaurs, especially at such a close proximity. She was no match for their brawn, either. This left her with one option: it was time to use her people-skills.

“Listen, I don’t-”

<What’s she _on_ about? I can’t understand a word she’s saying . . . >

Oh, no! She wasn’t speaking their language anymore, was she? Would it even be _possible_ to communicate with them in human form?

<Kill her!>

<Wait, stop!> Ellie screamed as they lunged at her.

<What is it _now_? > the tall one hissed.

<Uh, well . . . Before you eat me, there’s something you should know . . .> Ellie stammered.

<She’s stalling! Kill her now!> the short one snapped.

<Why don’t YOU kill her?> the tall one whined.

<Because you’re always complaining that I never let you _do_ anything!> he replied, turning away from Ellie.

<So?>

<So, now’s your chance! Go bite her head off or something . . .>

<Ew, I’m not gonna _bite her head off_! >

<Why not?>

<Her hair might get stuck in my teeth!>

<That’s ridiculous! What’s so bad about hair?>

<It’s all stringy and gross . . .>

< _So tear out her throat_! I don’t care HOW you kill her, just get the job done! >

<What’s your hurry? She’s not about to fl- Hey! Where’d she go?>

During their argument, Ellie had scrambled up a tall banyan tree (ficus macrophylla, to be exact). The short herrerasaurus spotted her and clawed at the ground angrily.

<Oh, that’s just _perfect_! How are we supposed to get her _now_? >

<We could climb . . .>

<Don’t be _stupid_. Only _humans_ can climb trees . . . >

<Actually, that’s not true. Most predatory animals are able to climb, even if they don’t live in the jungle,> Ellie shouted from above.

<Shut up, you!>

<Just sayin’ . . .>

The short herrerasaur approached the base of the trunk hesitantly. He reached out and dug his claws into the bark.

<I see that your arms are pronated. Were you born that way? I don’t think that’s _natural_ . . . > Ellie chirped.

<Are you insulting me?> he growled.

<No, no. Not at all,> Ellie replied breezily, <I’m just wondering whether or not the amphibian DNA has anything to do with your deformity . . .>

<What?> he barked.

<When Wu cloned you, he filled in the genetic gaps with frog DNA. You know Wu, right?> Ellie asked.

<OF COURSE I KNOW WU!> the herrerasaur roared as he tried to hoist himself up.

<Yeah, I thought so. You mentioned him earlier. I find it peculiar that you were able to identify him, since you don’t seem to understand English.>

<Hey, I may not be as smart as a velociraptor, but I can recognize speech patterns. I listened to the scientists a lot when I was a chick. They’d use his name whenever he was- OOF!>

The bark splintered under his weight, causing him to fall on his back.

<Do you need help?> the tall herrerasaur called from where he was seated.

<I’m FINE!> 

Ellie leaned back against the trunk, dangling her legs over each side of the branch. It was clear that this wasn’t going anywhere, but she’d have to wait for them to give up before she could leave.

<So, do you two have names?> she asked casually.

The short herrerasaur pressed his foot against the tree for leverage.

<Of course not! Names are useless to dinosaurs!>

<But how do you tell each other apart? What if someone wants to call you over?>

<We don’t- need- names!> he grunted as he pulled himself up.

<You sure? Because it’d make things a lot easier . . .>

He hissed pointedly.

<Well, to each their own, I suppose. My name’s Ellie, by the way.>

<I don’t care!>

Suddenly, the bark peeled under his weight. 

<No, no, no, no, no!>

_CRACK!_

He thrashed around with all four limbs embedded in the chunk of wood. The tall herrerasaur snickered.

<Shut up! Just _shut up_! >

<It _is_ kind of funny . . . > Ellie said through laughter.

The herrerasaur freed himself and snarled angrily.

<That _does_ it! I’m coming up there, whether you like it or not! >

He slammed against the tree trunk with fury and began to hoist himself up.

<You know, it’d be a lot easier if you’d alternate between your arms and your legs . . .> Ellie suggested.

<If I wanted your opinion, I’d _ask_ for it! >

<Fair enough. What about _you_? > she asked the other herrerasaur, <Aren’t _you_ going to try? >

<Naw, I think I’ll stay here. He doesn’t seem to be making much progress . . .>

Indeed, the short one’s tail was only an inch off the ground, and he was panting heavily.

<Besides, we can’t _both_ climb the tree, > he finished.

Ellie leaned forward on the branch and beckoned him to come closer. He cocked his head curiously and waddled over. Ellie cupped her hand over one side of her mouth very discreetly.

<Just between you and me, I think you could help him reach that branch over there if you let him stand on your shoulders,> she whispered sotto-voce.

After thinking it through, the tall herrerasaur padded over to his friend and pushed him up with his snout.

<Hey! Hey! What’s the big idea?>

<Grab the branch!>

The short one seemed confused at first, but he soon realized that it was, in fact, a very good idea. He hoisted himself up with difficulty, kicking his friend in the face. Once he had steadied himself, he used the surrounding branches as stepping stones, growing more and more confident with each leap. Ellie blinked and sat up. He was ascending at an alarming rate . . .

<You are a fool, human! Soon, you’ll be nothing more than a rotting carcass!>

Ellie slid away from the trunk as he approached her branch. After a particularly spirited jump, he managed to scramble to the top. Ellie sat up straight. They now stood face-to-face, but she wasn’t particularly worried. The herrerasaur noticed her nonchalant expression and chuckled.

<I’m much quicker than you, human. You won’t be able to push me off.>

<I know,> Ellie said simply, <I don’t intend to put up a fight. You can eat at your leisure.>

He opened his mouth, salivating messily.

<But before you do, tell me this: how do you plan to get down?>

The herrerasaur paused. He clearly hadn’t noticed how high the tree was. When he peeked over the edge, he snapped into a submissive pose, wrapping his arms and legs around the branch protectively.

<Hey, boss. What’s taking so long?> the tall one shouted from below.

Ellie could feel the branch shaking as he shivered.

<T-t-t-too high! C-c-c-can’t get d-d-d-down!>

<You know, it’s really too bad that after _all of that_ , you’re going to snap your neck when you jump off . . .> Ellie said coyly.

<H-h-h-help me . . .> he whimpered.

<Gee, I dunno . . .> she drawled.

<P-p-p-please!> he begged. Ellie smiled.

<Well, since you asked _nicely_ . . . >

She crawled further down the branch. The herrerasaur didn’t move.

<Follow me,> she said, waving her hand. The herrerasaur eased forward gingerly, but froze when the branch began to bend under his weight.

<We’re too heavy! The branch is going to bend over!> he shrieked.

<That’s the idea!>

Ellie pulled him forward. He resisted, but she was persistent. They continued to bend the branch until it dipped low enough for Ellie to step down. She held onto the end to keep it from jerking back up.

<Alright, now hop off!> she said cheerfully.

He looked over the edge once more. Seeing that he was no longer in danger, the herrerasaur rolled to the ground. As soon as he was down, the branch whipped upwards, yanking itself out of Ellie’s hands. The tall herrerasaur trotted over to comfort his recovering friend.

<Moreton Bay Fig trees are like springs,> Ellie explained, <The branches can bend very far before breaking.>

The herrerasaur stood up shakily. Ellie helped him to his feet.

<You okay?> 

He nodded, though his eyes were still glazed over with fear. His companion nudged him with the tip of his snout.

<Stop that! I’m _fine_! > he snapped.

<Glad to hear it, boss!> 

The short herrerasaur turned to Ellie.

<YOU, on the other hand, are about to be eaten.>

Ellie nodded. 

<Make it quick, then.>

<Boss, she saved your life . . .> the tall herrerasaur mumbled.

<Don’t try to get me out of this. It’s too late . . .> Ellie said dramatically. The short one growled.

<Boss, what are we supposed to tell the others?> he pressed anxiously, hopping from foot to foot.

<Tell them the truth,> Ellie said, <That he killed me in cold blood.>

<You’re a spy!> the short one hissed.

<I’m not. But don’t let _that_ stop you. >

<Boss, she saved your life! She’s not our enemy!> the tall one persisted.

Ellie patted him on the shoulder.

<Tut tut, don’t be sad. His mind is made up.>

<But you _saved_ him! > he exclaimed.

<I could have made it down on my own!> the short one hissed.

<You’re afraid of heights!> the other herrerasaur spat angrily.

<I don’t think he’s acrophobic. The only thing that scares him are humans,> Ellie hummed.

< _What_? I’m _not_ afraid of humans! They’s cowards, all of ‘em! > he roared.

<But you _must_ be afraid, since you’re so keen to kill me, > Ellie said innocently, <If you didn’t consider me a threat, you’d have let me go already.>

<That’s ridiculous! I’m not afraid to let you go!>

<He’s in denial,> Ellie whispered loudly to the other herrerasaur.

<I am _NOT_ in denial! And I’m _NOT_ going to kill you!>

<Really?> Ellie asked, pretending to be surprised.

<Of course! And just to prove how _UN_ -afraid I am of humans, I’m going to bring you straight to the Visitors’ Center!>

<Oh, dear! You really shouldn’t! It’s _far_ too dangerous,> Ellie said gravely.

<Now, see here! I am a _cruel_ and _vicious_ animal, and I am _NOT_ going to let you push me around! We are going to the Visitors’ Center, and that is FINAL! >

<Whatever you say . . .> Ellie beamed.

<Yeah, yeah. Hurry up, the both of you’s!>

<Careful, boss. Humans are sneaky. You can’t trust ‘em,> the tall one warned him.

<Don’t worry: I’ll be keeping my eye on her. If she tries anything funny, we’ll tie her up and FORCE her to follow us. But we won’t fall for any of her tricks!> he said as he waddled away.

Ellie had to bite her tongue to keep from smiling.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

 “I feel so ALIVE! Woohoo!”

“You, uh, won’t be alive for long if you keep turning corners like tha-a-a-okay, pull over, we’re letting Alan drive!”

By all accounts, Robin’s driving skills were akin to those of a drunken chimpanzee. It was a miracle that they were still alive and (mostly) unharmed. Ian quickly found that low-hanging tree branches posed a serious threat, which was more than a little humbling, given the circumstances. On an island full of dinosaurs, it would be ridiculous to be killed by a tree, of all things! Then again, foliage could be deadly. Ian had once heard of a plant that could shoot seeds at people as they walked by.

“Hey, Alan?”

“Yeah?” 

“Is it true that there’s a kind of plant that can shoot seeds at people as they walk by?”

Alan shrugged.

“I wouldn’t doubt it. Plants can shoot all sorts of things . . .” he said dismissively.

“Such as?” Ian pressed.

“Oh, I don’t know. Pollen. Chemicals. Acid.”

“Acid?” Ian gasped.

Alan nodded.

“If you want the gruesome details, you should ask Ellie about her close encounters. She’s seen some of the most _deadly_ plants known to man, and not just in fossils, either. One time, she got too close to a patch of Giant Hogweed-”

“Hogweed? That doesn’t sound dangerous,” Ian babbled.

“Does the word ‘necrosis’ mean anything to you?”

“Can’t say it does,” Ian admitted, “So, what happened?” 

“Oh, she wasn’t hurt too badly. Her field partner died, though,” Alan said simply.

“Yikes.”

“Yeah. The only reason she was down there in the first place was to save him . . .” Alan sighed.

Ian cringed.

“Guess that didn’t work out . . .” he mumbled.

“Well, in a way, yes. As terrible as it is to say, if he hadn’t died, Ellie would still be working as a regular botanist. I’m not saying that his death was a _good_ thing, but . . .”

“You’re glad that Ellie decided to work for you?” Ian finished.

Alan nodded.

“I just wish she didn’t have to go through the trauma . . .”

“That bad, huh?” Ian muttered.

“She had nightmares about it for _months_. Sometimes, she’d show up to work with bags under her eyes. It was awful.”

“What did you do?” Ian asked with a newfound interest. Alan shrugged.

“Well, there wasn’t much I COULD do. We weren’t really in a relationship at the time, so I had to trust that she’d recover eventually.”

“Did she?” Ian asked, leaning in.

“Of course. Time heals all injuries. She was perfectly fine for several years. I don’t think she had nightmares for a long time afterwards. Then Jurassic Park came along . . .”

Ian nodded.

“I know that feeling.”

“We all do,” Alan sighed, “But I guess we’ll just have to wait this one out too.”

“Well, you guys still have each other,” Robin sung merrily.

They blinked.

“Also, I wasn’t eavesdropping.”

“It’s fine Robin,” Alan laughed.

“Yeah, you’ve saved our asses enough times to be considered part of our group. Thanks, by the way.”

Robin looked like a lost puppy who had just found its way home.

“D-do you really mean it?” she whispered.

“Um, yeah. Sure . . .” Ian said uncomfortably.

“You guys are the best friends I’ve ever had!” she sobbed as she hugged them, leaving the steering wheel unattended. Ian kicked his foot up to steer the car, but returned the hug anyway. Unfortunately, the heartfelt moment was shattered when the jeep zoomed off a cliff, passing directly above the electric fence. The crew screamed in fright as they plunged towards the earth in a Thelma-and-Louise-style swan dive. They hit the ground hard and rolled to a gentle stop. After a moment of silence, Robin gave a nervous laugh.

“I didn’t really have a plan for getting through the fence, so in a way, this worked out perfectly!”

Ian, still frozen with shock, made a sound that was reminiscent of an elderly tortoise being squeezed. Robin coughed awkwardly.

“Maybe we should let Alan drive . . .” 

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ellie had to admit that she had grown quite fond of her new friends. Once it became clear that they no longer considered her a threat, it was surprisingly easy to accept the fact that she was conversing with dinosaurs. Granted, they weren’t particularly apt storytellers, but they seemed to enjoy regaling her with tales of yore. Well, if a few days ago could be considered “yore”. 

<-right into the mud pit, and it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen!> the tall one laughed.

<Yeah, I tell ya, he’s a real clumsy guy, that one,> the other herrerasaur added.

Ellie giggled.

<You know, you really should find names for each other. Unless you plan to refer to each other as ‘Hey, you!’, that is . . .>

The short one sniffed indignantly.

<Where would we start? There are too many of us, and we only know the names of _SCIENTISTS_. >

The way he punctuated the last word made it sound like he was talking about something completely repulsive. Not surprising, considering the recent abductions that had been taking place over the last few months (as the tall one had explained to her earlier).

<Why don’t you come up with names of your own?> Ellie suggested.

<Like what?> the tall one asked.

<Oh, I don’t know . . . Herrenald? Herrington? Herr-cules?> 

<Do they all have to be puns?> the short one huffed sarcastically. Ellie rolled her eyes.

<Well, I don’t see YOU coming up with any ideas . . .>

<What about Morton? Doesn’t he look like a Morton to you?> the tall one chirped excitedly.

<Not bad. What do you think of it?> Ellie asked.

<Morton’s fine,> he replied grumpily. The tall herrerasaur giggled. Ellie bumped into his side amiably.

<See? You’re good at naming people. So what should I call _you_? > she beamed.

<Well, I’ve always liked the name _Penelope_ . . . > he said dreamily.

<Oookay, then,> Ellie twittered pleasantly, <So we have Morton and Penelope. That’s easy to remember.>

<Yeah, yeah,> Morton grumbled, <Just don’t expect us to->

They stepped through the trees and found themselves at the edge of a shimmering lake. The two herrerasaurs looked around with confusion.

<What’s wrong?> Ellie asked. Morton changed his demeanor immediately.

<Oh, nothing, nothing. Um . . . Penelope, a word?> 

They scooted off to the side and began to whisper furiously. After a few minutes, Ellie decided that she had better figure out what all the fuss was about.

<- _completely_ the wrong direction! I can’t believe you- Oh! Hi, Ellie. We’re just discussing a few things . . . >

<We’re lost, aren’t we?> Ellie groaned.

<No, no! We know exactly where we are. Trouble is, we’re nowhere near the Visitors’ Center,> Penelope admitted.

Ellie bit her lip.

<How far are we?>

Morton bent his head in shame.

<Far. But don’t worry! I’m sure we can plan an alternate route . . .>

<SCREET!>

A bambiraptor appeared out of nowhere, bouncing up and down excitedly.

<Are you Ellie Sattler? Well, of _course_ you are, what am I thinking? > he twittered.

<Do I _know_ you? . . . > Ellie asked with confusion.

<No, but you’re lucky I found you! We’ve been looking for you all day! Blitzen heard a rumor that you were up North, so I decided to explore a bit and . . . well, here we are!>

<Is he making any sense to you?> Morton asked. Ellie shook her head. The bambiraptor exhaled with frustration.

<Robin sent us!> he said, tapping his foot anxiously.

< _Robin_?! > Ellie gasped.

<Yes, Robin!> he echoed, <And she’s headed your way, along with two men. What were their names, again? . . .>

<Alan and Ian?> Ellie asked.

<Sounds about right. Well, I’d better tell them where you are. Don’t you go running off, now! It’ll be easier if you stay by the lake.>

And with that, he hopped into the bushes and was gone.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Although Ian was glad that Alan had decided to drive, he didn’t particularly care for the speed he held at present. After almost running over one of Robin’s bambies (either Donder or Donner, not that Ian cared), they decided to send him up north for further investigation. Their search then proceeded as planned until the creature returned to confirm Ellie’s precise location. As soon as Robin pointed them in the right direction, Alan zoomed off like a bat out of hell.

“Hey, Al!” Ian shouted over the motor, “I know you’re anxious to see her and all, but could you slow down a touch?”

“No time. Must find Ellie.”

Ian sighed with exasperation.

“You know, you’re going to get us ki-”

_WHUMP!_

A branch hit the front of the jeep, scraping the hood severely.

“Ack! You know, I think I agree with Ian on this one . . .” Robin admitted guiltily, “We won’t reach Ellie if we’re dead.”

Alan didn’t answer.

“Yoo-hoo? Wanna give us your input?” Ian said, waving his hand in front of Alan’s face.

“Don’t distract me.”

Ian slumped back.

“Fine, do what you want. Hey, is it just me, or is the forest getting sparser?”

Indeed, they were not getting hit by quite so many branches anymore. The jungle gradually tapered off as they drove, much to Ian’s relief. It wasn’t long before they found themselves in an open field.

“Wow, look at that!” Robin said with awe.

To their right, a brilliant blue lake glistened with shimmering sunlight. Ian squinted. At the edge of the pool, it was possible to see three small shapes. Two of them were clearly dinosaurs, but the third one was most definitely-

“Ellie!”

Alan parked the car and sprinted down the hill towards her.

“Alan? . . . Alan!” she beamed.

Ian watched as they ran to greet one another with open arms. When they were close enough, Ellie took a running leap and wrapped her legs around Alan’s waist. He lost his balance and fell over backwards, losing his hat. They laughed hysterically and collapsed into a pile of mushy-gushy love.

“Awww . . .” Robin sighed whimsically.

“Hey, when you two are done re-enacting scenes from ‘ _The Princess Bride_ ’, you should really join us so we can finally escape this god-forsaken rock!” Ian shouted mockingly. Ellie and Alan stood up. 

“Sorry, Ian!” Ellie laughed.

From a safe distance, the two red dinosaurs called out to her. She turned around in Alan’s arms and answered them with strange dinosaur sounds. Alan loosened his grip, obviously surprised to see his partner barking like a madwoman. The dinosaurs nodded and ran off into the jungle. Robin smiled.

“Do I want to know?” Ian asked.

“Probably not.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After careful consideration, it was decided that the best plan of action was to head up to the North Dock and nab an abandoned boat. According to Robin, it was easy to hot-wire InGen vehicles. Alan didn’t really care about the questionable nature of her hijacking knowledge: as long as Ellie was safe, nothing else mattered. 

About fifteen minutes into their journey, Ellie dozed off against Alan’s chest. He could feel her breathing gently as he stroked her hair. It had been a long day.

“Hey, Al . . .” Ian whispered, “Do you think Wu’s looking for us?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” he replied, “I just hope we can make it to the mainland before he reaches us . . .”

Ellie shifted.

“Mmmph . . .”

“Ah! Sorry, we didn’t mean to wake you,” Ian apologized.

“No, s’alright . . .” Ellie slurred, “I’m feeling a lot better now.”

Alan smiled.

“You’ll have to tell us about your adventure sometime,” he joked. Ellie snorted and pushed his face away playfully.

“I’ve been to hell and back. After pestilence, war, and famine . . . Well, let’s just say that I’m looking forward to going home.”

“How do you plan to get back without your passports?” Ian asked.

“Well, once we’re out of Wu’s territory, we can give Hammond a call-”

“But he’s not the CEO anymore . . .” Ian pointed out.

“Actually, he’s been reinstated,” Robin interjected, “Due to a previously unseen line of fine print, Ludlow can’t legally take InGen unless the entire board votes on it first. With all the excitement, I forgot to tell you . . .”

“Well, that’s a relief!” Alan sighed.

“I guess it pays to have friends in high places . . .” Ian remarked.

Ellie laughed.

“We’re going to miss you, Ian. Just don’t forget to keep in touch! After an adventure like this, I can’t imagine losing a friend like you.”

Robin, who had been driving cautiously, turned and looked at them expectantly.

“And you too, Robin,” Ellie added, “We wouldn’t have gotten this far if it weren’t for you . . .”

Robin squealed happily.

“This is the best day of my life!”

“Don’t worry, there will be plenty more to come . . .” Ian said optimistically.

Finally, Ellie could no longer contain her excitement.

“We’re going HOME!” she whooped.

_BANG!_

Robin jolted and slammed her foot on the brake pedal. The jeep came to a messy stop.

“What’s wrong?” Ellie asked.

Robin held her shoulder painfully. When she lowered her hand, it was covered in blood.

“Oh my god, she’s been shot!” Ian shouted, “Quick, everyone down!”

They ducked flat against the seats, searching for their attacker. A myriad of jeeps and vans were speeding towards them from the south. Leading the procession was Wu. He was holding a gun.

“Surrender now!” he bellowed through a megaphone, “You have nowhere to run!”

“Give it up, Wu! We’d sooner die than let you kidnap us!” Ian shouted.

Wu laughed.

“My, my. You’re a spirited bunch!”

“Leave them alone, Wu!” Robin choked.

“Don’t try to be a hero, Robin. I fully intend to let them go. Now that I have a proper DNA sample, they’re useless to me.”

“But how-”

“The janitor collected Sattler’s blood at the Visitors’ Center. I have everything I need to carry out Phase 3 of my plan.”

“Phase 3?” Ian asked.

“Wu found a tyrannosaurus tooth with viable DNA. It’s much bigger than a normal fossil would be. He thinks it’s a super-dinosaur,” Robin wheezed.

“Are you telling them about the tooth, Robin?” Wu shouted through the megaphone, “You needn’t bother. I can show them myself.”

Wu pulled out a large cane. A brown, spear-shaped fossil was fastened on the end.

“You know, some things are only whimsical when Hammond does them . . .” Ian quipped.

“We’ll discuss juxtaposition later,” Alan huffed, “Right now, we had better escape. Drive, Ian!”

They pulled Robin out of the driver’s seat and laid her on her back. Ian hopped into the front and slammed his foot on the pedal. 

It wasn’t long before Wu took chase. The V-shaped cavalry of jeeps kicked up an impressive amount of dust as they flew across the plains. The car chase was rather unexciting, however, on such flat terrain.

“This is easy! All we have to do is outrun him,” Ian chuckled.

“Don’t let your guard down, Ian,” Alan warned him.

Ian sat back and steered with one hand.

“What’s the problem? We have a tank full of gas and a light load. We’re far better off than-”

_TING!_

A bullet ricocheted off the side of the car.

“Oh, right. He has a gun.”

“Don’t let him shoot the tires!” Ellie screamed.

Through the rearview mirror, Ian could see the ground erupting with geysers of dust where the bullets landed. Ian tried to pull the car out of range, but their left tire suddenly collapsed beneath them. The jeep started to make awful sounds. Ian braked slowly. There was no way they could make it away safely.

“Well, I guess this is it . . .” Ellie said sadly.

They sat in silence as Wu pulled up beside them.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to give you a ticket,” he laughed cruelly. No one responded.

Wu stepped out of the car, still holding his staff in one hand. Robin sat up in the back seat and winced.

“Oh, come now! There’s no need for long faces. I’ll get you home safely . . .”

“Liar,” Ian hissed. Wu sneered.

“Like I said: I have no use for you. You can go home . . .” 

They shrunk back as Wu cackled.

“Unfortunately, once my lawyers are done with you, you may not have a home at all!”

“Bastard!” Robin screamed, pouncing at him with rage. Two security guards grabbed her and fastened a metal band around her wrist. She tried to spit at them, but only ended up expectorating all over her chest.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk! Such manners!”

“Don’t try to be a mustache-twirler, Wu. It’s unbecoming,” Ian growled. Wu thrust his cane into Ian’s gut, winding him.

“I’ve had just about enough of you . . .”

“Leave him alone!” Ellie shouted, trying to break free from another pack of guards.

“You’re trying my patience. Trixie, gag her!”

A pudgy woman with witch-like nails waddled over with a piece of cloth.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Alan shouted, “If you touch her, I swear I’ll-”

“You’ll _what_? Call one of your dinosaur friends?” Wu mimicked.

<Groarrrrrrrrr!>

A massive figure suddenly appeared a few yards from where they were parked. Ian had never seen this kind of dinosaur before. It was bright yellow, with a lighter underside and a greenish tinge on top. Along its spine, a series of blue spots dappled its back from neck to tail. Most impressively, a burning red crest flashed furiously on top of its head.

“Ellie . . . Is this, uh . . . is this a friend of yours?” Ian asked. She shook her head fearfully.

Ian gulped.

“Then, what is it?” 

Alan started shaking.

“It’s an Allosaurus, Ian.”


	11. Last Day

Last Day

<GROOOAR!>

The allosaurus charged at the group, pounding its massive feet against the ground like a Hawaiian drummer. 

“Run! Run now!” Alan shouted, grabbing Ellie’s hand. They stumbled out of the way as a horde of screaming scientists jostled them on each side, pushing and shoving each other violently as they tried to escape. They moved like a stampede, albeit one with a common destination. Alan led Ellie, Ian, and Robin on a separate path. While the scientists hopped into their jeeps, the gang dove into a circle of jagged boulders to hide. Alan pulled them down one by one. When they were out of the dinosaur’s field of vision, Ian scooted closer to Alan.

“If we stay still, do we-”

“No. Allosaurs have _excellent_ vision. We need to wait for him to leave,” Alan whispered. Ian started shaking.

“If I don’t make it out of this alive, can someone please tell my children that I love them?” he whispered.

“You have _kids_?” Ellie gasped.

“Didn’t you know? I thought I told you . . .”

“No, you told _me_ ,” Alan huffed, “And I thought you were joking.”

“Me? Never.”

“Ian . . .” Ellie groaned.

“Just trying to lighten the mood. At least we’ll have a good laugh before we get _eaten_.”

“Shush, Ian. Nobody’s going to die,” Ellie whispered furiously. Ian sighed.

“Right . . . But for argument’s sake, can we at least say that I died trying to save orphaned puppies from a burning building?”

“Shut up, Ian,” Robin grumbled.

“Hey, now! No need to be rude . . .”

“ _I’m bleeding profusely_!” Robin hissed.

“Right, right. Is it bad?” Ian asked, leaning in for a closer look.

“No, I don’t think so,” Robin hummed, “But if I die, can one of you take care of Orange?”

“No one’s dying!” Ellie spat.

“Do you have any children?” Ian asked. Robin shook her head.

“I’m sterile . . . Oh, don’t worry. I hate kids, so it’s no big deal . . . But my cat-”

“-will be fine!” Ellie finished, “You are NOT going to die.”

“But-”

Ellie raised her finger in warning.

“Ack! What are we supposed to do? Just sit here and wait to be picked off like _wombats_?” Robin sputtered.

“Wombats? . . .” Ellie wondered.

“We could swap stories . . .” Ian mumbled.

“Oh, brother,” Robin drawled.

“Tell them the puddle story, Ellie,” Alan said encouragingly.

“YOU tell them. You’re a better storyteller . . .”

The group suddenly became alert when they heard two pairs of feet shuffling across the grass. Wu and Jay rounded the corner and sat down next to Alan. He turned to scold them, but Wu gave him a deadly glare.

“Not. A. Word.”

“He ran out of bullets,” Jay explained.

Gradually, the screaming dissipated as people fled to their jeeps. Soon, the collective roar of a dozen motors filled the air. When Alan peeked around the corner, he saw the allosaurus pacing in frustration. The cars were nearly gone, and it hadn’t made a kill. The dinosaur pawed at the ground angrily, not knowing what to do.

“Do you understand him, Ellie?” Alan asked, hoping to gain some insight. She shook her head.

“No. I don’t think he’s speaking.”

“She wouldn’t have allosaurus DNA in her system, anyway,” Robin said, “But T-Rex dialect should be similar enough . . . Not that you’d want to try reasoning with him. Speaking of which, have you used any other morphs yet?”

“What?” Ellie whispered.

“You can morph into other dinosaurs . . . If you carry their DNA, that is. Did you acquire herrerasaurus DNA during your expedition?”

Ellie crinkled her nose.

“No, I don’t think so. Would I have to have been bitten? . . .” 

“Not necessarily. The DNA is absorbed through physical contact-”

“Would you two _shut up_?” Jay whispered harshly, “It’s going to hear us.”

Robin rolled her eyes.

“Everybody knows that allosaurs have poor hearing,” she scoffed.

“But they have a highly developed sense of smell,” Wu said, pointing to Robin’s bleeding shoulder. Sure enough, the beast was beginning to sniff loudly. Alan silently prayed that they were downwind.

The sniffing stopped. Alan peeked around the corner. The allosaurus was looking straight at him. 

<GROARRRRRRRRR!>

It tossed its head and stomped towards them.

“What are we going to do?” Jay shrilled.

“Got any ideas, Al?” Ian asked.

Why was it that everyone thought that _he_ was an expert on dinosaur-based survival skills? True, he was a paleontologist, but these were living creatures!

“I don’t know what to do,” Alan admitted guiltily, “All the jeeps are gone . . .”

“What about-”

“The allosaurus is between the broken jeep and these rocks. We can’t make it around him,” Alan affirmed.

“We’re gonna die!” Jay shrieked.

Even Ellie didn’t argue, this time. Alan put his arms around her, but it was of little comfort. The footsteps were getting louder . . .

Robin stood up shakily. She seemed very serene, given the circumstances.

“It’s funny . . . All this time, I’ve been trying to impress the wrong people,” she said with a strange detachment. What was she talking about?

“You don’t need to impress us . . .” Ian said gently.

“I know,” Robin whispered as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Spare us the pity-party,” Wu groaned, “You don’t deserve our respect.”

Robin nodded.

“I think you’re right . . . But that’s why I’m sticking with the people who don’t mind.”

She turned away from Wu and Jay, much to their surprise.

“Alan, Ellie, Ian . . . You’ve all been so kind to me, and I never even had to ask for your approval . . .”

“Of course not. We’re your friends . . .” Ellie said softly. Robin closed her eyes.

“I can’t tell you how good it feels to do something for someone other than myself. I’m going to miss you . . . Head for the jeep.”

By the time they realized what she meant, it was too late. Robin darted into the field. The allosaurus spotted her and began to take chase.

Alan didn’t remember running. One minute, he was ducking behind the rock, and the next, he was sitting in a very crowded jeep. Wu didn’t waste any time: they sped off as quickly as the flat tire would allow. Alan didn’t think to look back until they were far from the danger zone. He never saw what happened to Robin. When he asked Ellie if she had escaped, she shook her head and started to cry.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

For a good half-hour, no one said a word. Alan, Ellie, and Ian were sitting quietly in the back seat, staring vacantly at the ground as it rolled by. Jay wasn’t much different, though he fidgeted every now and then. Wu was busy driving, but he grimaced whenever they ran over a particularly large bump. Other than the rumble of the motor and the crash of distant waves, there was no sound.

A sudden crackle of static made everyone in the car jump. Jay reached into his pocket and pulled out a radio. He pressed a red button on the side and held it up to his face.

“Hello?” 

‘Jay, is that y- . . .’

The voice faded into static.

“Yes! Yes, I’m here! Where _are_ you guys?”

‘We tried to head South, but we got lo- . . . -ere any chance we can meet you at the North Dock?’

Jay turned to Wu.

“Should we-”

He nodded.

“Right,” Jay sighed, “We’ll meet you at the North Dock.”

‘-ow many of you are left? Did- . . . -any casualties?’

Jay closed his eyes.

“Robin is dead.”

There was a pause.

‘-sorry to hear that. We’re sending- . . . -North Dock, if you can make it on three tires. Otherwise, we can g-’

The radio started beeping. Soon, it went completely silent.

Jay dropped the device unceremoniously. 

“I guess we’re heading North.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

A jeep can’t run on three wheels. Even the strongest axles can’t tolerate a sudden increase in pressure. It wasn’t long before the vehicle became quite unusable. While Wu and Jay tried desperately to fix the jeep, Ellie, Alan, and Ian sat by the edge of a seaside cliff. They had stopped in a particularly sandy area, not unlike the hoodoos of Montana. At the base of the precipice, white waves crashed violently against the rocks. Coastal birds flapped across the bay, giving the whole scene a postcard esthetic. Over by the jeep, Jay seemed to be quite annoyed by the cawing of the pelicans, even going so far as to throw spare parts at them as they flew by. For Ellie, it was a relief to hear something so jarring. The silence had been deafening. 

Ian sighed.

“Why did she do it?” he wondered aloud, “She barely knew us. We barely knew _her_. And she seemed so _sentimental_ . . . I just don’t understand.”

“Me neither,” Alan sighed, “We never _did_ anything for her . . .”

It was true, they hadn’t been particularly nice to Robin. Sure, Ian had complimented her once or twice, but other than that . . .

Then again, she had been willing to help them before, though it seemed as though she wanted to salvage her reputation above all else . . .

Ellie thought about Alan’s recounting of the nighttime rendezvous. Robin had been so eager to please them, but was it simply a manifestation of some deep-rooted insecurity? Was she lonely? Was she frightened? There was no way of knowing for sure. Not now. Like Alan said, they hadn’t really _given_ her anything. And yet . . .

Ellie shook her head.

“No. That’s not true. Whether we knew it or not, we DID have something to offer.”

She stood up and started walking back towards the jeep. 

“We became her friends. That in itself is a tremendous thing.”

 

 


	12. Pique De Moustique

Pique De Moustique

Following Robin’s advice, Ellie tried out different morphs while they waited by the jeep. She did, in fact, have herrerasaurus DNA, which the group deemed a useful asset (though Ellie hoped she would never have to use it). Ian suggested that she try mutating her limbs in isolation, just as Robin had done. This was solely accomplished, Ellie noticed, through conscious will. It was a good thing too, because she wasn’t a huge fan of electrocution. Even so, it was strange to see her thumb and pinky suddenly shrink into the sides of her hand. Even more alarming was the foot transformation. Apparently, her shoes were considered “part of her”, and they sunk into her skin like a tarp might sink into a pool. She toyed with these semi-mutations experimentally. There appeared to be quite the variation in how the change was accomplished. Sometimes, it was smooth and fast; other times, she would bubble like grilled cheese. She wasn’t fond of the latter method.

Oddly enough, when she tried out her compsognathus morph, she began to glow. Although it was initially confusing, Ellie decided that it must have something to do with releasing her excess mass as light energy. On a similar note, she seemed to draw in heat when she grew. These expansions were often the messiest transformations, appearing grotesque and feeling unpleasant. As Ian put it, she was simply “repulse-some”. To gross him out, Ellie grew her nails into herrerasaur claws and twinkled them in his face like a witch. He didn’t approve.

Ellie began to try out her raptor morph as well, but she pulled back before completing it. Something about becoming a raptor didn’t sit well with her, though she couldn’t begin to explain her reasoning. It just felt _wrong_ , plain and simple.

“So, what happens if you eat a sandwich and shrink? Does your stomach explode?” Ian asked.

“Hell if I know. I haven’t had a proper meal since yesterday,” Ellie grumbled.

Alan put his arms around her.

“Oh, Ellie . . .”

She pushed him away gently.

“I’m fine, I’m fine . . .”

He wasn’t convinced. 

“We could find you a mango or something . . .” 

“Are they in season?” Ian joked.

“Really, I’m fine,” Ellie insisted, “Besides, we shouldn’t go wandering off.”

Ian frowned.

“So . . . we’re going to stay with Wu?”

“I don’t see any alternative,” Ellie said with a shrug.

“We could call Hammond . . .” Alan suggested.

In her peripheral vision, Ellie saw Wu flinch. 

“Maybe we should wait,” she replied, flicking her eyes to Wu and back.

Ian lowered his voice.

“Something tells me that Wu isn’t going to let this slide . . .”

Alan snorted.

“What was your first clue? The gun? The cane of death? . . .”

“Scepter,” Ellie interjected.

“The _scepter_ of death?” Alan repeated. Ian chuckled.

“Yeah, I can’t say the “Mad-Scientist-Meets-Bond-Villain” motif is all that subtle . . .”

“Shhh!” Alan hissed.

“What? Do you hear something?” Ian quavered.

“No, I just want you to be quiet.”

Ellie frowned.

“Wait a minute . . .”

“Do _you_ hear something?” Ian repeated. Ellie shook her head.

“No . . . But _that’s_ what makes me nervous. I don’t think Jay could have frightened away _all_ of those pelicans on his own . . .”

After a moment of silence, Alan turned towards the jeep.

“Guys, I think we’d better g-”

<Hsssh . . .>

A raspy hiss seemed to come out of nowhere. The group searched frantically for the source of the sound, but to no avail. Finally, what appeared to be a moss-covered rock began to shift and twitch. A long-snouted dinosaur stood up and sniffed the air.

“Two legs, Alan. It has two legs . . .” Ian whimpered.

Wu stared at the creature with wide eyes.

“This is impossible . . . We aren’t in baryonyx territory . . . What is he doing all the way out here?”

Not far away, a second baryonyx made its presence known. It opened its mouth and hissed. Ellie decided that it sounded like an asthmatic alligator. The two creatures slunk closer, cocking their heads curiously.

<Kee-eht-voo? . . .> 

Ellie frowned. It sounded like he was speaking in a foreign tongue. 

“What’s it saying, Ellie?” Alan whispered.

“I don’t know . . . It sounds like he’s trying to speak, but the words are nonsensical . . .”

<Eel-fon-kwoi?> the second baryonyx asked.

<Eel-noo-pahrrrl-jeu-pensss.>

Wu pushed Ellie forward. 

“Try speaking with them.”

Ellie’s knees were shaking. She didn’t know what to say . . .

<Um . . . Hello?> she squeaked.

<Allo? Say-kwoi-sah? Tyrrrannosaurrr?>

“They said something about ‘tyrannosaur’, I think!”

<Ay-la-blond! Tyu-pahrrrl-Tyrrrannosaurrr?>

<I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you’re saying . . .>

<El-ay-peutehtrrr-eun-peu-lahn?>

<Jeu-krrrwa-k’wee.>

<On-la-monj?>

<El-ay-troh-mehgrrr. Seh-reeyain-keu-day-mahnjeye . . .>

“You getting any of this?” Ian asked. Ellie shook her head.

“No, but I have an idea. Cover me.”

She approached the closest baryonyx and touched his leg.

<El-fay-kwoi? Aykoot, jeu neu say pah . . . what you’re trying to do, but I don’t appreciate it!>

Ellie removed her hand.

<Can you understand me now?> she asked.

<Hey! She’s not slow after all!> the other baryonyx clucked.

<Slow? Wh- Oh, never mind. Listen, what are you two _doing_ here? >

<We WERE resting . . .> the first baryonyx grumbled.

<No, no. What I mean is: why did you leave your territory?>

<That’s none of your business! Now get lost!> he hissed.

Ellie backed away as they snarled at her.

<Calm down, calm down . . . I’m just curious, is all. Wu said->

< _WU_?! > they chorused angrily.

Uh-oh.

<You’re a spy, aren’t you?>

Not this again . . .

<Look, I’m not->

<Kill her!>

Ellie whipped around and bolted for the jeep.

<I hate it when they run . . .> the first baryonyx sneered.

Alan stumbled backwards.

“Ellie, what-”

“Go, go, go, go, go!” she screamed.

They didn’t wait for an explanation. As the two baryonyx drew near, the group split up to dodge their attacks. The dinosaurs tried snapping them up one by one, but their motion lacked finesse. Ellie hypothesized that they were used to having prey come to them (not unlike fish would swim unknowingly towards a bear). The baryonyx paused during each attack to steady themselves, giving the gang ample time to get out of the way. These dinosaurs certainly weren’t multitaskers. 

Suddenly, the baryonyx’s attention was drawn to the jeep. Jay had hidden himself beneath the vehicle during the initial commotion, but his white labcoat was a dead giveaway. The beasts approached the car on each side, dipping their heads down for a closer look. Jay tried to kick them out of the way, but it only made them angrier. Working together, they rolled the jeep over to expose him. Soon, Jay was dangling from a pair of jaws. His captor dropped him momentarily, letting him crawl on the ground for a few seconds before finishing him off. With one human gone, the baryonyx responsible for Jay’s demise turned his attention to the group. He stopped in mid-stride, however, for Jay’s body had begun to twitch and crackle. The creature snorted and ripped off his head.

<I hate it when that happens. It’s not fair when you have to kill them twice . . .>

Ellie, who had found refuge behind a decaying log, shuddered at their callous remark. How could they be so apathetic? Then again, they _were_ predators . . . 

Wu ran over and forcefully pulled up Ellie by her wrist.

“Let go of me!” she shrieked.

“Morph into a baryonyx!”

“What?” she gasped, still struggling to free herself.

“You have their DNA. Fight them!”

Ellie yanked her arm out of Wu’s grasp.

“Forget it!” she spat, “I’m not your personal assistant. If you think I’m going to fight-”

Wu struck her across the face. Ellie stumbled backwards and touched her bleeding lip. 

“You will do as I say, whether you like it or not!”

He pulled a taser out of his pocket and jammed it into Ellie’s side. She let out a cry and fell to the ground. Seeing what had happened, Alan rushed over and pushed Wu out of the way. He knelt beside Ellie, trying to restrain her as she convulsed.

“Ellie! Ellie, I’m _so sorry_! I thought he was coming to help you . . .”

She coughed uncontrollably as he held her in his arms.

“Alan . . .” Ellie choked, <I can’t->

She stopped, realizing that her transformation was too far-gone to allow human vocalization. 

“Ellie? Oh, Ellie! You don’t have to fight! He can’t _make_ you . . .”

<I’m so sorry, Alan. I tried to save us, but I’m just not strong enough . . .>

<HSSSSSSSSSH!>

“Um, guys . . .” Ian quavered, “We have company . . .”

Alan didn’t want to let go of Ellie, but their assailants were drawing near. Apparently, they weren’t daunted by Ellie’s size.

“Get them! Get them!” Wu barked.

Ellie swayed her head from side to side with agitation. She stepped backwards, accidentally jostling Ian with her shin.

“Ah! Watch it!” he shouted.

She grumbled indistinctly. Wu marched up to her and tried to push her forward.

“What’s the _matter_ with you? Go, get them!”

Ellie didn’t budge an inch. Wu pushed and pushed until he was practically perpendicular to her leg. She kicked him away without much difficulty.

“How _dare_ you-”

“Shut up, Wu. She doesn’t want to fight,” Alan threatened.

The larger baryonyx charged at Ellie. She dodged the attack just in time, but lost her balance when she stepped on the decaying log. As she reeled, Ellie nearly smacked Ian with her tail.

“Yeah, I think we should get out of the way,” he said quickly.

Alan, Ian, and Wu managed to escape the danger zone, but the second baryonyx pursued them while its companion was busy. Seeing this, Ellie roared and ran to their aid. She clamped her jaws around the animal’s tail, pulling it to the ground. It thrashed around madly, its sharp claws missing Ellie’s snout by an inch.

Out of nowhere, the other baryonyx slammed into her side, leaving her winded on the ground. Alan attempted a rescue, but the fallen baryonyx was in his way. Ellie tried to right herself, but the beast continued to shove her through the dirt.

“He’s trying to push her off the cliff!” Ian shouted.

Alan dashed towards Ellie without a second thought.

“Leave her alone!” Alan bellowed, pounding on the animal’s leg. It took a few seconds for the baryonyx to register that it was being attacked. It turned slowly and gave him a look of absolute disdain. Alan gulped. 

<HSSSSSSH . . .>

The baryonyx snapped its jaws, but Alan was already out of the way. The second baryonyx had finally found its footing, and promptly joined the chase. Finally, they cornered Alan by the (now upside-down) jeep. The two monsters snarled menacingly. Alan could hear Ian trying to get their attention, but they took no notice. This was _very_ bad . . .

<RAAAAAAAAAH!>

Ellie knocked one of the baryonyx to the side. The other one watched furiously as they wrestled on the ground. Ellie used the struggling baryonyx to pull herself upright. She made her way over to Alan, but the second baryonyx intercepted her. It slashed at Ellie with open claws, leaving three red striations on her left side. While she screamed, it tried to grab Alan. In the blink of an eye, she caught its neck in her jaws. She struggled to keep it at bay, but it was determined to kill its quarry. She slammed her foot into its side, still holding its scruff in her jaws. The baryonyx was bleeding, but Ellie didn’t seem to notice. Its scrag bent awkwardly as she pushed, finally snapping with a resonant crack. The animal twitched a little, then went limp in her jaws.

Ellie dropped the lifeless creature, panting heavily. She stared at the cadaver with contrition. Alan couldn’t imagine how she felt. Ellie had never killed anything larger than a mosquito. It wasn’t in her nature to harm living creatures, yet she was now standing over the corpse of a semi-sentient animal. 

“Ellie . . .”

She flinched at his touch. Her gaze remained distant and trancelike. Alan was barely tall enough to reach her knee, so he settled on hugging her calf. She rumbled softly and closed her eyes. 

<HSH!>

The surviving baryonyx was absolutely furious. He dug his foot into the ground like an angry bull. Seeing that he was about to charge, Ellie pushed Alan out of the way, staining the back of his shirt with baryonyx blood. He ran over to Ian and Wu, who were hiding behind the splintered log.

“Give me your taser!”

The way Wu looked at him, one would swear that he had asked for a purple unicorn.

“You can’t shock a baryonyx!”

“I can _try_!” Alan barked.

Ian grabbed the taser from Wu’s pocket.

“Catch!” 

Wu tried to snatch it away, but Ian sent the device flying through the air. Alan caught it and ran.

<Hsssssssssh . . .>

Alan noticed that the baryonyx had Ellie backed up against the cliff. This was not unintentional. Every time she would try to run past, it would block her path like a sheepdog. If Ellie fell off the cliff, it was _game over_.

Alan held the taser awkwardly. The prongs crackled with blue-white cords of electricity, snapping in the humid air. The creature hissed as Alan shocked its leg, more surprised than injured, but furious nonetheless. During its momentary distraction, Ellie managed to knock the beast on its back. The ground around the ledge was steeply sloped, and the baryonyx began to slide down. As it fell, it grabbed Ellie’s foot long enough to drag her down to the edge of the cliff. It hissed as it plummeted over the side, leaving Ellie dangling on the precipice.

“Hold on!” Alan shouted as he slid towards her. He grabbed her snout, just as her legs began to scramble over the scarp, knocking clumps of compact dirt into the sea below. Ian dashed over to help. They tugged as hard as they could, refusing to admit that it was a futile effort.

“Don’t let go! Don’t let go!” Alan shouted frantically.

In a fraction of a second, Ellie slipped out of their hands and plunged into the foaming water.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Alan’s shouting cut out as Ellie broke through the surface of the ocean. She tumbled through the bubbly depths, still stunned from the impact of her fall. The sun shone down in bright beams, though it was hard to tell where the light originated. Everything was so blurry . . . 

When she hit the ocean floor, Ellie kicked up a massive cloud of sand. The grains stung at her eyes, blinding her temporarily. 

<Rhooo . . .>

Ellie didn’t acknowledge the haunting ululation until the speaker began to push her through the sand. She was in no position to struggle: a land animal such as herself was not suited for aquatic maneuverability. Her attacker, however, seemed to be a Star 10 synchronized swimmer.

On top of the usual motion-based acuity, Ellie’s vision was still blurry from the sand and seawater, so she couldn’t quite make out the shape of the animal. She hoped it wasn’t the baryonyx.

The specter lifted her through the water with ease. Oddly enough, it pushed her straight to the surface, where she gasped and retched in the cold air. When she steadied herself, the mysterious ocean-dweller ceased to assist her. 

<Rhooo . . .>

She watched the semi-crocodilian silhouette swim away with smooth strokes. Whatever it was, it no longer concerned her.

Now that she was able to breathe, Ellie focused on treading water. Once she accepted the fact that she had no hands for sculling, she used her feet to dog-paddle. This proved to be quite a challenge, as she quickly found that the mammalian technique of up-and-down spinal contortion was not anatomically possible. Eventually, she settled on a sort of side-to-side wiggle, though she had to pull her head out of the water every now and then when she got too enthusiastic with her tail-strokes.

In addition to the unwanted influx of seawater in her mouth and nostrils, the saline quality of the ocean had terrible effects on her body. The salt stung badly against the gashes on her thigh, and the nick on her eyebrow was getting worse. Ellie didn’t know whether salt was particularly dangerous for an injured dinosaur, but she decided that it was probably a good idea to find dry land.

After a few minutes of sputtering and snorting, Ellie began to hallucinate. She had heard stories of castaways who had died from drinking too much seawater, but she never expected to be in the situation herself. Then again, she had never expected to see a living dinosaur. She had never expected to BE a living dinosaur. Isla Nublar was full of surprises . . .

Finally, Ellie spotted a beach. The waves became fierce as she paddled to the island, nearly knocking her over when she was able to touch the bottom (which was admittedly a bit shameful, given her current size). The salt-induced nausea began to take its toll, causing double-vision and dizziness. Ellie’s teetering became so sporadic that she could no longer stand upright. She flopped over lazily and let the waves carry her the rest of the way.

As she washed up on shore, Ellie laid her head flat on the sand and gurgled. She didn’t feel too good . . .

 

_Are you sick, Ellie Sattler?_

 

Ellie opened her eyes. The pteranodon was sitting calmly in the sand, watching her without a trace of emotion.

<Oh. You again. What do _you_ want? > Ellie grumbled. The pteranodon cocked its head.

 

_The real question is: what do YOU want?_

 

<Eh?> Ellie chuffed.

 

_I am a manifestation of your subconscious. I will help you face what you choose to ignore._

 

<So, my spirit guide is a pteranodon? Odd choice, but I’m not complaining,> Ellie said sardonically.

 

 _Do you know why I am here, Ellie Sattler?_ the pteranodon asked, ignoring her comment.

 

<Yeah, I drank too much seawater . . .> Ellie snorted.

 

_That is true, but I refer to a deeper meaning. Something more . . . spiritual, if you will. Why do you think you chose a pteranodon as your spirit guide?_

 

<Hell if I know,> Ellie grumbled, <Wait . . . aren’t you supposed to be answering _my_ questions? Or are you one of those “mystical bullshit” mentors who wants me to find my own path? >

 

The pteranodon moved closer.

 

_You forget that I am a reflection of your innermost desires. I cannot give you any advice outside of your own intuition._

 

<Intuition?> Ellie echoed.

 

_Many people choose to ignore their instincts. You only let yourself see so much . . ._

 

<Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but this vagueness is getting us nowhere. I don’t like it when people speak in riddles.>

 

_And yet, you lie to yourself. You cannot fool me, Ellie Sattler. I am not Alan, I am not Ian . . . I am YOU. Why do you choose to dismiss me? Do I frighten you?_

 

Ellie was furious. What could this overgrown chicken possibly know about her feelings? Nothing, that’s what!

<If you’re not going to tell me why I’m here, then you can forget->

 

_Why are you afraid to become a raptor?_

 

Ellie froze. The question had certainly caught her off guard . . .

<I . . . I think it’s because I’m scared of them,> she guessed.

 

The pteranodon closed its eyes.

 

_That is part of the reason._

 

<What else _is_ there? Tell me . . . > Ellie whispered.

 

_You already know._

 

Ellie turned her head in shame. She _did_ know.

 

 _My time here is coming to an end . . ._ the pteranodon said, dipping its head in farewell.

 

<Why? WHY?> Ellie cried in distress. 

 

_The effects of the seawater are wearing off._

 

<Ah.>

 

The pteranodon spread its wings.

 

_You may not be able to face the truth right now, but there will come a time when you must decide who you really are . . ._

 

With a powerful stroke of its wings, the pteranodon took flight.

 

<Yeah, whatever,> Ellie hummed, slipping back into a state of nonchalance, <Do you have any other scraps of fortune cookie advice for me?>

 

_No. But there’s something you should know . . ._

 

<What?> Ellie asked.

 

_There’s a starfish on your face._

 

Ellie crossed her eyes and saw a pinkish shape stuck to her snout. She jumped to her feet and tried to shake it off while yapping like a rabid coyote.

Much to her everlasting shame, Ellie had always possessed an irrational fear of starfish. Alan sometimes teased her about this quirk, though he was respectful enough to keep it a secret. Boy, would he get a kick out of this . . .

After a few minutes of screaming and flailing, Ellie began to demorph. The starfish seemed to grow as she shrunk, soon enveloping her entire nose. As she ripped the disgusting creature off her face, Ellie wondered how long she had been lying on the beach. Hadn’t Alan said something about a three hour limit?

A gentle wave washed over Ellie’s shoes, filling them with sand and spume.

“Wonderful,” she sighed.

She removed her sneakers and set them on the sand to dry. After ringing out her socks, Ellie walked down to the shore and stared at the ocean. The tide glimmered with the radiant glow of Golden Hour, the most beautiful time of day. Tiny strands of light danced across the horizon like yellow ribbons, twining and twirling playfully as the sun began to set.

Ellie smiled. Despite everything, she had to admit that the beach was gorgeous. The water was calm where she stood, and it felt surprisingly relaxing to let the waves wash up against her feet. Ellie dug her toes into the sand and sighed. There was nothing unpleasant about a tropical bay.

Well, except for the starfish.

Ellie watched with repulsion as it slowly lifted its limbs in the air. The waves dragged it up and down the beach, spinning it around like a discus. Blech. Echinoderms were freaky as hell. There was _nothing_ Ellie feared more than starfish.

 

<CRAW! CRAW! CRAW!>

 

. . . Except raptors.


	13. The Plan

The Plan

Ian wished that he could be a good friend, but he had never really dealt with such complex emotions before. For a good fifteen minutes, all he could do was stare at Alan while he had a mental breakdown. The man was clearly in denial, ranting and raving about various scenarios in which Ellie could have survived. Ian turned away awkwardly as Alan fell into a delusional panic. What could he _do_ , anyway? He had nothing comforting to say, in fact, he wasn’t feeling too hot, himself . . .

Finally, Alan had to admit defeat. He ceased to make excuses and stood quietly by the torn-up cliff. Thinking it was safe to talk to him, Ian began to think up a solace-filled dialogue, but Alan suddenly snapped at Wu, blaming him for Ellie’s death. Although he was clearly lashing out, Ian had to agree with him on this point. Ellie, Robin, and countless innocents had died because of Wu’s stubbornness, yet he refused to repent. Instead, he donned an expression of annoyance as Alan reprimanded his actions. It was sickening . . .

“-just _stood_ there. You could have _saved_ her, but you chose to _run_!”

“I did what was necessary to survive! If she hadn’t fought, we’d _all_ be _dead_.”

“Maybe it would have been better that way,” Alan replied bitterly.

It was Ian who noticed the rescue team driving down from the North. He ran over to the quarreling men and tried to break up their argument. Reluctantly, they decided to postpone their bickering and join the squad.

While Wu explained the situation to his staff, Ian and Alan searched the premises for an empty jeep. The last thing they needed was more “quality time” with Wu. Most of the vehicles were at maximum occupancy, and the rest were filled with unfriendly faces. Finally, Ian spotted two free seats.

“This one looks good, don’t you think?” he asked brightly, expecting no answer. Alan gave Ian a questioning look.

“Don’t you know whose jeep that is?”

“Yeah. But it’s fine,” Ian said airily.

They climbed into the vehicle and waited in silence. 

“What are you going to say?” Alan asked softly. Ian shrugged.

“Knowing me, it’ll probably be something stupid and unfunny.”

After a short pause, the scientists broke away from Wu’s conference and headed to their assigned cars. Ian braced himself for a painful ride.

“Ian Malcolm?” their driver gasped.

“Hi, Dr. Harding . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Gerry Harding had always considered Sarah’s taste in men to be questionable, at the best of times, but sometimes she _really_ pushed her luck. Gerry sometimes blamed himself for her poor decision-making, and this culpability made him feel awful. Indeed, he hadn’t been a particularly good role-model, though this had _less_ to do with his flaws and _everything_ to do with his perpetual absence. This was probably why Sarah tended to gravitate towards men who were aloof or antisocial. Although she might have a _vague_ idea that other families were closer than her own, she hadn’t been exposed to a healthy environment for many years.

While Malcolm wasn’t the worst of Sarah’s boyfriends, he had an unhealthy habit of enthralling her with tales of Jurassic Park. She had known, of course, that her father was somehow involved with InGen, but Gerry hadn’t expected her to put the pieces together in such a short amount of time. Somehow, the warnings and horror stories only managed to draw her in.

Even so, Gerry had to admit that something about the way Malcolm behaved gave him the impression that he would do anything to keep Sarah off Isla Nublar. He even suspected that Wu might have used this idea to get him to return to the island in the first place. All of this blackmail and slander was infuriating, but not unexpected, per se. 

It was a damned shame that so many InGen scientists turned out to be complete wackos. To be honest, the only reason Gerry hadn’t already left Isla Nublar was because he was afraid of what would happen if he wasn’t around to keep everyone in check. Without people like him, things would go sour quicker than a tub of milk on a hot porch.

Of course, things were _already_ pretty bad. Not only had they lost Robin and Jay, but Sattler had also been an unfortunate victim of the feral theropods. Gerry was glad that he hadn’t been around to see any of the deaths. It was hard enough to lose a loved one, but to watch the dinosaurs tear them apart . . . Well, he didn’t like to think about it.

“I should have stayed out of the way . . .”

No one expected Grant to break the silence. He was so dejected that Gerry had wondered whether he would ever speak again.

“She was trying to save me. If I hadn’t been so impulsive-”

“No, Alan, no . . .” Malcolm hummed, “It’s not your fault. You tried to save her . . .”

“And I failed. I promised that nothing would happen to her . . .”

“Alan . . .”

Gerry drove in silence, not wanting to make the situation worse with his input.

“I didn’t even say goodbye . . .”

“You didn’t _have_ to. She knew how you felt, Al. You tried to save her, even when it was impossible.”

“We should have left while we had the chance.”

Finally, Gerry couldn’t take it anymore.

“I know it isn’t easy to accept that she’s gone, but you won’t do her any justice by blaming yourself. This was beyond your control.”

Grant said nothing.

“I’m not saying that you should _forget_ her or anything, but for the love of god, don’t be too hard on yourself.”

Silence. Gerry sighed.

“We’ll be arriving at the Visitors’ Center shortly,” he finished weakly.

He drove down to the cul-de-sac and let his passengers depart without any further discussion. As they trod dismally up the stairs, Malcolm turned around and nodded respectfully. Gerry tipped his hat and went to park the car. 

When he arrived at the tour garage, Gerry was surprised to see that Wu was waiting for him. He didn’t look too pleased, either, but what else was new?

“I see you’ve met Mr. Malcolm . . .” Wu said with an unnerving calmness.

Gerry pulled his key out of the ignition.

“Yeah. It’s about time, too. He’s been dating my daughter for over a year . . .”

“Fascinating,” Wu said blankly, “And how is Dr. Grant?”

Gerry sighed.

“Not good.”

Wu stepped forward smoothly.

“Did he seem . . . unstable to you?” he asked, leaning against the car.

“I don’t know what you mean, sir . . .” Gerry murmured with confusion.

“Was he . . . in a bad way?”

“Well, sure. I reckon he’s probably torn up about Sattler’s passing . . .”

Wu nodded.

“I imagine so.”

He slithered out of the back door, leaving it open. Gerry was about to hang up his keys, but Wu turned around before he could escape his gaze.

“Dr. Harding, if you notice anything strange, you _will_ tell me, yes? . . .”

“Of course.”

Gerry began to walk away, but Wu turned around once more.

“One more thing: make sure you find Sattler’s body. We don’t want to leave her rotting on the shore. It attracts scavengers, you know . . .”

“Yes, sir.”

When he was sure that Wu was gone, Gerry shuddered and dropped his keys on the dashboard. Maybe it was finally time to move back to San Diego.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After taking some time to regroup at the Visitors’ Center, Ian and Alan headed to the hotel. They had been told that they could leave, and rightly so, but Ian had some business to attend to before packing up. 

He used a pocketknife to open the door to Robin’s flat and whistled softly. Orange trotted over, his collar tinkling merrily. He tried to rub up against Ian, but he mostly just head-butted his shin. Ian sighed and picked him up, holding the mass of fur in front of his face.

“Well, I guess I’m taking you home . . .” he sighed.

The cat responded by coughing up a hairball. Ian kicked the sticky lump off his shoe and carried the cat outside. It nuzzled up against his chest as they walked. Ian pretended not to notice.

When they arrived on the right floor (Orange had bopped the elevator buttons while he wasn’t looking), Ian was surprised to find that Alan was not next door. He dismissed the oddness of the situation at first, but when he entered his own room, he could see that something was amiss. The red laser-yarn was hanging limp in some places, giving the impression that someone had been caught in its web.

Ian placed Orange on the carpet and held a loose end in the palm of his hand. Someone had been _in_ here, but they had left the rest of the room untouched. How peculiar . . .

“Hey, Orange! What do you make of this?” Ian asked, dangling the string in front of his face.

The cat batted a paw at the yarn, but missed it by a mile.

“Man, you _really_ aren’t that bright . . .”

Orange hissed.

“Aw, come on. I was just k-”

Ian felt a sharp blow on the back of his head. He was unconscious before he could identify his attacker.  


***TSJPFEW***

 

Alan didn’t have the courage to pack. It felt like a kind of betrayal to fold Ellie’s clothes and handle her possessions. She had worked so hard to keep everything neat and tidy, and all Alan could do was shove it away like it meant nothing to him. In reality, these things reminded him of what he loved about Ellie in the first place. She didn’t just pay attention to detail: she made an effort to improve upon the seemingly insignificant things so that the people she cared about would feel that they were important enough to merit her attention. Now that she was gone, Alan was sure that he never really deserved her immeasurable devotion. He had only managed to cause trouble, and it caught up with them in the end. All he could do now was try to clean up without breaking down.

For a while, he managed to keep it together, though it was especially tough to throw away the post-it notes. How long had they tried to decipher the meaning of the hidden clues and scraps of information? It didn’t matter now.

Although he made it through most of the cleaning without incident, something in Alan snapped when he found a long, blond hair on Ellie’s pillow. Of all the things to cry about, this was probably the _last_ thing he would have expected. Even so, he was now tormented by the fact that there was no longer an Ellie to shed these hairs. What might have been an annoyance, the day before, was now an artifact of sorts. This hair was a reminder of the past, not unlike a fossil. The only difference was that Alan had _known_ the person who left this clue behind. Ellie wasn’t a mystery: her quirks and mannerisms were more than familiar to Alan. If someone were to ask him to write an essay on everything he knew about Ellie, his paper would consist of no less than a thousand volumes. But now, like so much of his work, he was dealing with an extinct species. Everything that couldhave been, all the time they could have spent together, had been snuffed out by the douter of mortality. There was no more Ellie. He’d never see her smile, and he’d never hear her laugh. She was _gone_ , plain and simple. And what had she left behind? A couple of scientific discoveries? A broken heart? 

And then, the truth dawned on him. No one would ever know how Ellie had died. Wu would most certainly lie to the public, and no one would believe Alan if he tried to expose the truth. He couldn’t possibly compete with InGen. If Ian’s story seemed laughable, then _this_ series of events could be considered the mother of all unbelievable anecdotes.

As the harsh reality of his situation began to sink in, Alan found that he couldn’t bear to stay indoors any longer. He walked brusquely out of the room and caught the elevator, secretly hoping that he wouldn’t run into Ian on the way down. Alan wasn’t exactly in a sociable mood (to put it lightly), and he didn’t want to upset his friend any further. It would be best if they simply parted ways. 

Wandering aimlessly through the courtyard, Alan found that his thoughts were unusually disjointed and confused. Maybe he was still in shock. That might explain the randomness of his pondering. For some reason, he kept replaying the last few moments of Ellie’s life in his mind. A part of him was still trying to search for some way that she could have survived. It didn’t matter how much he analyzed the situation: the simple fact was that Ellie had fallen into the ocean without resurfacing. There was no current to carry her away, there was no boat to rescue her, and there was absolutely no way that she could swim as a T-Rex. She was dead.

 

And yet . . .

 

No. It was impossible for her to have survived. 

 

But no one had seen her die . . .

 

No, no, no! It was dangerous to encourage false hope.

 

There might be a way . . .

 

Alan tried to shut out this petulant sliver of optimism, but it refused to leave him alone. There seemed to be a disconnect between what he had witnessed and what _should_ have been. First, Ellie had disappeared beneath the waves without ever resurfacing. This was strange, since she had always been an excellent swimmer. Even as a dinosaur, she should have retained _some_ of that competence. If not, it was still a counterintuitive result, as she should have (at the very least) floated to the top. It was unlikely that her mass made a difference: the body of the drowned baryonyx had resurfaced just fine, and he was _much_ bigger than a T-Rex. But what could have pulled her under and dragged her away from the cliffs? Alan’s theory still didn’t hold up . . .

“Dr. Grant?”

Alan snapped out of his trance. Of all the people he could have passed on his aimless journey, Wu was the worst possible choice. Not only had he been partly responsible for Ellie’s death, but he was the most apathetic, vile, and altogether uncaring man on the island. Alan walked past him without breaking his stride.

“Hey, wh- Wait! Stop!”

Wu bolted forward, blocking Alan’s path.

“Look, I know we aren’t exactly on good terms right now-”

Alan pushed him away.

“-but I need to tell you something!” he puffed as he tried to match Alan’s pace. Suddenly, Alan rounded on him, causing Wu to flinch in a preemptive defense reflex.

“Why should I listen to _you_? You’re a monstrous and malevolent man!”

“I’m not-”

“You are _brainless_ , _heartless_ , _spineless_ -” 

“That’s hardly-”

“You let others die in cold blood-”

“You don’t know what you’re-”

“-and you refuse to take responsibility for your actions,” Alan finished. Wu sighed and rubbed his temples.

“You’re right. This is all my fault. I’m sorry.”

It was nothing short of a miracle to hear these words, especially from Wu. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, Alan ignored Wu’s quasi-robotic tone and remained silent.

“I wish I could take it all back, really I do,” Wu sighed, “But I’m only _one_ man . . . “

“You have to go public with this.”

Wu blinked.

“I don’t- I don’t understand . . .” he stammered uneasily.

“If you continue to lie, more and more people will get hurt. It is your duty to tell the world what happened to Ellie . . . her, and all the other scientists who have died on account of your foolish pride.”

Wu stared blankly for a few seconds, then nodded.

“I had hoped that it wouldn’t come to this, but I now see that I must set things right.”

He turned around and began walking down a dirt path.

“Follow me. I have something to show you.”

 

***TSJPFEW***  


<SCREEEEEEEEE!>

Alan flinched as a hideous wail echoed off the walls of the raptor paddock. Wu smiled mockingly. This whole scene was eerily familiar, though there was only one raptor (thank god), and no bloody cow carcass (also a good thing). The contained raptor seemed to be juvenile, probably under six months, but fearsome, nonetheless. 

The raptor looked up at them and hissed, pulling its face into a frown.

“He’s a spirited little tyke, isn’t he?” Wu said sarcastically. 

“I suppose so,” Alan hummed, “Why do you keep him here?”

Wu smiled.

“For research purposes. He has interesting genes, this one.”

The raptor snapped at them angrily, pawing at the ground with hatred.

“Can’t he fly?” Alan asked nervously.

Wu chuckled.

“Not while he’s wearing that collar,” he said, pointing to a grey band around the raptor’s neck.

“Why’s that?” Alan asked, watching the raptor out of the corner of his eye.

“It’s made of dysprosium,” Wu explained, “For some reason, it’s the only metal that can’t be absorbed during mutation. We have _no_ _idea_ why . . .”

“I think you’re playing with _an awful lot_ of fire,” Alan grumbled.

“Control is no illusion, Dr. Grant. I have the power to create, change, and destroy as I see fit. These creatures are my possessions. I don’t worry about them any more than you worry about your hat or your shoes. Once these dinosaurs are contained, they no longer pose a threat. We are safe.”

Alan shook his head.

“No one is safe in Jurassic Park.”

“You’re wrong. There is only _one_ thing to be feared on this entire island.”

“You?” Alan asked sardonically. Wu smiled.

“Right. But if I were you, I’d be more concerned about _him_ ,” he said, pointing to the infant raptor.

Alan turned his head.

“What-”

Wu pushed him into the raptor paddock.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ellie felt like a prisoner of war. An eight-party procession of raptors was escorting her silently through the jungle, leaving no possible escape route. If she so much as stepped an inch out of the ring, she’d be dead within a millisecond. What’s more, she had to keep a steady pace, or the raptors behind her would snap their jaws in warning, which she most definitely did not enjoy. For once, she could tell that the dinosaurs’ expressions matched their temperament perfectly. These animals were hostile, and it was only a matter of time before they turned on her. So what were they _waiting_ for? Ellie dared not ask.

As they pushed deeper into the jungle, Ellie began to identify her captors. It wasn’t easy to tell them apart, but some individuals stood out more than others. The most obviously marked raptor had a scar on the left side of her face. The gash must have been quite severe, as it began on her eyebrow and ended just under her bottom lip. It was hard to ignore the cicatrix, and Ellie found herself staring at it with curiosity. The raptor noticed this, and snarled at her. Ellie looked away quickly, but continued to observe the pack.

The two smallest raptors seemed to be only a little taller than Ellie, and were strikingly similar in appearance (more than the other raptors, that is). The only noticeable differences were the wounds they sustained. One raptor had a bruised snout, while the other had black grill-marks on his side. These must have been the raptors that Ellie had encountered the day before. There was no sign of the third raptor that had hunted her, however: this troop had a single female at the helm, and it was unlikely that her attacker could sustain such a large scar in so little time.

Aside from these minor clues, it was nearly impossible to tell the dinosaurs apart. They were all brown with green eyes, and their hues had little to no variation. They were worse than penguins . . .

Suddenly, the pack stopped dead in their tracks. Ellie, who had been wrapped up in her thoughts, almost crashed into the front of the procession. It was a good thing she didn’t, or she might have found herself torn apart on the spot.

<We have arrived,> the scarred raptor said monotonously.

Ellie looked around for some sort of landmark. They were at the foot of a pointy mountain, but other than that, the jungle looked exactly the same as it had five minutes ago. 

<Where->

The scarred raptor pushed Ellie into a tangle of vines. When she was through, Ellie found herself standing on a pointed kopje. The pack ushered her to the edge. She turned around and tried to beseech their mercy.

<Look, I don’t know why you’ve brought me here, but I have no quarrel with you or any of your fr->

She looked over the peak and felt her legs go limp. The rock overlooked a profound valley with impressive stone walls and deep caverns. At the bottom of this metamorphic bucket was a crowd of fifty or sixty raptors, all staring at her with fierce, green eyes. 

Ellie squeaked.

<We have found one of the infected!> the scarred raptor proclaimed.

The crowd broke into their signature craw-craw-crawing, filling the canyon with haunting echoes. Ellie thought she might faint.

<Let it be known that the revolution has begun! Soon, we will take back what is rightfully ours!>

Oh god, they were going to kill her! Ellie was about to be sacrificed to insurrectionist velociraptors (two words that should never be placed in the same sentence), and she wasn’t even wearing shoes! 

<Together, we shall bring down InGen and everything that it stands for! Step forward, Ellie Sattler . . .>

Without warning, Ellie exploded into a fit of nonsense. The audience watched in confusion as she began to hop around in a spastic dance, shouting gibberish at her captors.

<I can’t die! I’m _too young_ to die! I’m not taking any of your Huitzilopochtli bullshit! If you want a sacrifice, find my mystical pteranodon: _he’ll_ give you religious fulfillment! >

They closed in around her, but with trepidation.

<Don’t touch me! Don’t you _dare_ touch me! >

The bruised raptor brushed up against her. Ellie shrieked.

<Leave me alone! Leave me _alone_! Alan! Alaaaaaaaaa- >

The grilled raptor pecked her. 

<Ow . . .> Ellie said, rubbing her forehead.

<Would you _shut up_?! You’re acting like a crazy person! > he growled. Ellie stared at him blankly.

<I knew we should have explained everything to her _beforehand_ . . . > the bruised raptor hummed regretfully.

<Explained? Explained _what_? . . . > Ellie asked.

<You’re going to help us take down InGen.>

< _Wha_ t?! I can’t- _Oh, geez_! >

They pushed her to the edge of the cliff. The crowd stared at her expectantly. Ellie looked over her shoulder, but the raptors had backed away. The scarred raptor gestured with her paw. They wanted her to _speak_!

<Um . . . Greetings! My name is Ellie Sattler. I’m a paleobotanist . . .>

<Tell them your plan!> the scarred raptor whispered loudly.

<Plan? I don’t _have_ a plan! I just got here . . . >

The raptor snuffed.

<Let me rephrase that. Tell them your plan, or I’ll cut out your spleen.>

Ellie turned around quickly.

<Ladies and gentlemen- I mean, raptors and . . . other raptors. I have been told that you are starting a rebellion, which I am apparently going to help you organize. Don’t worry: I have a plan. It’s a good plan, too, with lots of strategic . . . strategy. Personally, I think this plan is _very_ likely to succeed, and I have no doubt that we will be triumphant! >

<What’s the plan?> a voice asked from the audience.

<The plan? Right, um . . . The plan is . . . Well, it’s really more of a _scheme_ . . . >

<She _has_ no plan! > boomed an elegant female voice.

The crowd parted to reveal a tall raptor, who seemed to radiate authority from head to tail. She stepped forward with careful strides, her talons clicking on the stone as she descended into the congregation.

Ellie frowned. This was the raptor who had hunted her.

<If you think that this _human_ is here to help us, then you are sorely mistaken, > the female said smoothly.

<This does not concern you, Chieftain!> the scarred raptor hissed.

<Oh, but it does,> she replied in an even tone, <By inviting this human into our home, you have put the pack in danger. If you turn your back on her, the consequences will be _deadly_. She will not help us. >

<You’re wrong! This woman is our last hope, and you _know_ it! We can’t keep attacking the stronghold like before. The guards will continue to pick us off _one by one_. We need new ideas. We need _HER_. >

Ellie backed away shyly. The chieftain chuckled.

<We don’t _need_ anyone! We are raptors! We stand strong! >

A few members of the crowd barked in agreement. 

<We can’t rely on our old tricks . . .> the scarred raptor insisted.

<Then we shall come up with new ones!>

<Chieftain, the scientists will always have the upper hand . . .>

The crowd was getting restless. This argument had obviously created a rift among the raptors. 

<They do not possess any assets!> the chieftain proclaimed stubbornly.

<What about your son?> Ellie asked.

The crowd fell silent. Ellie stepped closer to the edge of the rock and stared down at the chieftain.

<They took him from you, didn’t they? Call me crazy, but from where I stand, your plans don’t seem to be all that reliable.>

The chieftain was clearly surprised to see a human standing up to her. She stepped onto a half-interred boulder. Ellie did not break eye contact.

<You should know better than to challenge me, human.>

<And _you_ should know better than to squander this opportunity. I can help you. >

The chieftain snickered.

<Why would a _human_ ever help a raptor? >

<Because I hate InGen as much as you do.>

The crowd broke into excited whispers.

<You lie,> the chieftain asserted.

Ellie shook her head.

<We have a common goal. InGen must fall, but for that to happen, we need to make a deal.>

The chieftain stepped forward.

<I’m listening . . .>

<I will help you win back Jurassic Park, but when the battle is over, you must grant me safe passage off Isla Nublar.>

<Is that _all_? >

<No. You must promise not to kill anyone.>

A ripple of confused murmuring spread through the crowd.

<My plan is to infiltrate and incapacitate,> Ellie explained, <I want every single person to be evacuated from this island without any unnecessary violence.>

<You are naïve. These terms are impossible,> the chieftain declared.

<No. They aren’t. Not for what I have planned,> Ellie proclaimed confidently, <If we’re gonna do this, we do this _my_ way. >

The chieftain paced back and forth. Finally, she snorted and stood upright.

<Very well. You have three days to put this plan into action. If you attempt to escape or betray us in any way, you _will_ be killed. Understood? >

<Understood.>

The chieftain hopped down from her rock.

<Do not disappoint me.>

As Ellie turned away from the kopje, she felt her stomach twist. What had she gotten herself into? 

<Come with us,> the scarred raptor said, brushing up against Ellie, <We will make sure that you have somewhere to stay for the night.>

Wonderful. Not only did Ellie have to lead a rebellion, but she would also have to live among the most terrifying creatures imaginable. Unless she were to develop Stockholm syndrome at some point, this was going to be a _very_ unpleasant stay. And then there was the matter of her plan . . . 

The truth was, Ellie had been bluffing. She had no plan, never mind a pacifistic alternative, but she had to let the raptors believe that killing her would be a mistake. If they considered her an asset, maybe she could stay alive long enough to improvise another crazy escape. 

 

But that was a pretty big “if”.


	14. Oddleh Seckthual

Oddleh Seckthual

It was cold. Very cold.

Ian groaned and tried to roll over. When it became clear that movement was not an option, he sat still and breathed deeply. His head was still throbbing from the attack, and he didn’t particularly care for the way he was positioned. He seemed to be strapped to a slab of metal, not unlike a dissected frog. His limbs were fastened to the table with tight leather belts, which cut off his circulation whenever he shifted. This wasn’t looking good.

“Please tell me I’m not about to be probed . . .” he moaned drowsily.

He heard a metallic clank to his left.

“Dr. Richthofen! He’s awake!” a female voice croaked.

“Damn right, I’m awake! Is someone going to tell me what’s going on?”

A wrinkly man with silver hair stepped forward and shone a bright light on Ian’s face. He squinted and tried to turn his head. This only made him dizzier.

“Zees ees a small- How you say?- a small procedure . . .” the doctor said with an insincere solace.

“Oh, great,” Ian huffed, “I’m going to be the lab-rat for a Soviet scientist . . .”

“I AM GERMAN!” he barked.

“Well, isn’t that cliché . . .” Ian quipped.

“You vhould do best to hold your tongck, Meester Malcolm!” the doctor crooned mockingly.

The unseen woman cackled like a witch. Ian rolled his eyes.

“Does it really matter? I mean, you’re going to, uh, kill me, right? You wouldn’t do all of . . . _this_ if you expected me to leave. This doesn’t seem legal . . .”

“Schnauze! On this island, there is no law!”

“Great, great . . . So is this going to be vivisection, or what?” Ian asked bitterly.

Richthofen slammed his fist on the table. The noise would have made Ian jump, but he was immobilized.

“Vhee do not vheevheesect here! I am _geneticist_!” he barked.

“No, you are _crazy_ ,” Ian retorted monotonously.

“Enough talk! Gag heem, Trixie!”

The pudgy, red-haired woman from the plains waddled over and shoved a cloth into Ian’s mouth. He wretched a little, then sputtered.

“Dith ithn’t vewwy hoomayn . . .” he said through the rag.

Richthofen picked up a syringe filled with amber-colored liquid and tapped the side. Ian wiggled nervously.

“Whadd aw you goin’ thoo tehwl mah famiwee? Ah can’ juthd go mithing . . .” he slobbered.

“Oh, Meester Malcolm. You are _so_ naïve. Do you theenk vhee are zhat careless? Vhee’f been doinck thees for quite some time . . .”

“Pweeth tehwl meh you di’in do dith thoo Awan!” Ian gasped.

“Vhat?”

“Awan. Awan Gwand. The pawee’ntowogith,” Ian elaborated.

“. . . Vhat?”

Ian groaned.

“Heeth mah fwehnd. Hafenth you theen him?”

Richthofen turned to Trixie. She shrugged.

“I can’t understand a vhord you are sayinck,” he clucked.

“Add weeth’d ah dund haff a widicuwouth athent . . .” Ian spat.

Suddenly, a door slammed loudly. Ian turned to see what was happening, but he couldn’t move his head all the way to the side without hurting his neck. The cacophonous clanging of shoes on a catwalk echoed through the chamber.

“Dr. Wu!” Trixie gasped.

“Alan Grant is dead!” Wu wailed.

Ian’s heart did a somersault.

It couldn’t be true! There must be some mistake . . .

“He was so distraught . . . I tried to save him, but there was nothing I could do. He jumped into the raptor pen before I could reach him.”

Ian frowned. His panic slowly melted into fury. Alan hadn’t taken his own life. This was Wu’s doing. Ian began to thrash around like a serpent.

“WIAW! YOU PUTH’D HIM! YOU KILLED MAH FWEHND! YOU KILLED MAH FWEHND!” he roared.

Ian heard a slimy chuckle.

“Not much gets past you, does it, Mr. Malcolm? But it’s good enough to fool everyone else, no? . . .”

Ian thrashed around on the table angrily, growling through the rag.

“Shhhhhh . . . There’s no need for that. We aren’t going to hurt you . . .”

“Much,” Trixie added.

Ian continued to struggle.

“You see, Mr. Malcolm, you are about to be a part of something _beautiful_.”

“Beautiful . . .” Trixie echoed.

“Shush! This is MY monologue!” Wu spat.

“Thuddubb, Wu!” Ian growled. Wu clucked his tongue.

“You’re quite the fighter . . .”

Ian stopped struggling.

“Did anehbodeh elth find thad oddleh seckthual?”

“Impertinent to the last . . .” Wu grumbled. He nodded to Richthofen, who promptly grabbed the syringe and stuck it in Ian’s upper arm. The pressure of the fluid was _nothing_ compared to what came next. A painful burning spread all over Ian’s body, causing him to shake and twitch uncontrollably.

“THUK! THUK!”

Wu smiled.

“It’s a shame that you won’t be able to fully grasp the irony of your situation,” he sneered, “I’ll bet you didn’t know that I was listening to you on the plane. I found your conversation quite interesting. Especially the part about ‘utahraptor’ . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After Ellie’s speech, the raptors decided to give her a tour of the valley. The sky was turning from orange to purple, and it was hard to see exactly where she was stepping. Ellie tripped over the exposed roots and broken branches, creating a humorous snapping noise wherever she went. The raptors dismissed it as general clumsiness and waited patiently as she stumbled on the uneven terrain.

<These are the caves. We mostly use them for storage, but that big one over there is where we sleep,> the scarred raptor said, pointing to a series of caverns.

They moved away from the grottos and headed towards the opposite side of the valley. The other raptors stared at Ellie as she staggered across the clearing. It was a little embarrassing . . .

<That’s the spring. It doesn’t always flow . . .>

They walked past a fountain-shaped crag, though there certainly wasn’t any water trickling down at the moment.

<That’s a tree. We climb it sometimes.>

Ellie yawned. She had to admit that the scarred raptor’s presentation wasn’t all that enthralling. There just wasn’t that much to see. Well, except the other raptors. They were interesting.

<Why do you rub up against each other?> Ellie asked, pointing to two raptors who were doing exactly what she had described.

<Hm? Oh, that. It’s just a greeting. Most theropods do it,> the scarred raptor said dismissively.

Ellie smiled.

<It’s kind of catlike, don’t you think?> she giggled. The scarred raptor snuffed.

<I wouldn’t know. There aren’t too many cats on this island.>

<I saw a cat once!> the bruised raptor piped up.

<And we’ll never hear the end of it!> the grilled raptor sighed.

Ellie wasn’t paying attention anymore. She sensed a looming presence above the valley. The chieftain was staring down at her from the kopje with an ominous frown. Ellie met her gaze without a trace of fear. This was certainly going to be an interesting rivalry . . .

<. . . stuck in the hole, but we got him out eventually. Anyway, this is where we eat. Are you hungry?>

Ellie was beyond starving, but the menu was looking rather unappetizing. Most of what had been carried back from the plains consisted of either severed limbs or intestines. Ellie didn’t know if dinosaurs were particularly edible, but it would be foolish to eat raw meat from any animal, let alone extinct ones.

<Um . . . You wouldn’t happen to have any fruit, would you?> Ellie asked shyly.

< _FRUIT_?! What do we look like? Duckbills? > one of the raptors spat.

<She can’t eat meat, stupid!> another raptor growled.

<Well, it’s not that I _can’t_ eat meat . . .> Ellie began.

<Oh, don’t worry. We hunt all sorts of things. Bring her a chicken!> the scarred raptor barked. One of the raptors dropped a half-plucked chicken into Ellie’s arms. She shrieked and dropped the mangy carcass. It practically disintegrated when it hit the ground.

<Picky, isn’t she?> a raptor remarked.

The bruised raptor stepped forward nervously.

<I can go find some fruit . . .> he offered.

<Be quick about it! It’ll be dark soon,> the scarred raptor ordered.

<I’m sorry. I don’t want to be a burden . . .> Ellie sighed, forgetting that she was, in fact, being held hostage.

<Don’t worry about it. We expected to run into some issues when we planned this out. All things considered, you’re doing surprisingly well!> the scarred raptor chirped.

<Thank you? . . .> Ellie replied uncertainly.

<Oh, don’t thank us: _we’re_ the ones who kidnapped you, > another raptor piped up. The scarred raptor pecked her comrade, who bent his head in shame.

<It’s fine, really,> Ellie said quickly.

The raptors stared at her with confusion.

<. . . Well, maybe it’s not _fine_ , but I was kind of being held hostage anyway . . .>

<By whom?> a raptor asked.

<By Wu.>

The pack hissed at the mention of his name.

<Yeah, I have to agree with you on that one,> Ellie grumbled.

<Well, the enemy of our enemy is our friend,> the scarred raptor chuckled.

Ellie raised her eyebrow.

<You know, for a species that has been extinct for millions of year, you sure do know a lot of idioms . . .>

<Eh. We pick things up here and there,> the scarred raptor replied breezily.

Ellie crossed her arms and smiled coyly.

<So, what other tricks do you have up your sleeve? . . .>

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

To Alan’s surprise, he woke up in one piece, though he was severely bruised from the fall. He had hit several branches on his way down, but he didn’t remember what exactly had knocked him out. Maybe he had fallen on his head. In any case, if he was still in the raptor paddock, he was in _big_ trouble.

After making sure that nothing was broken, Alan sat up and rubbed his head. He was definitely in the enclosure, but he didn’t see the raptor anywhere-

_WHAP!_

The infant jumped on Alan’s torso, knocking him flat on his back. It gurgled angrily and tapped its toes against his chest.

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?” Alan said cryptically. 

The raptor growled and leaned closer to Alan’s face. In the blink of an eye, Alan rolled over, taking the infant with him. He grabbed its snout before it could react and pinned it to the ground. To prevent the raptor from kicking, Alan put his knee over both of its legs. It squawked and became still.

“Don’t get any funny ideas,” Alan grumbled.

However, it soon became clear that they were at an impasse. Alan couldn’t let the raptor go, but he couldn’t make an escape if he was busy holding it down. To make matters worse, there was no way to climb out of the pen. He was as good as dead. 

Alan sighed and looked at the tiny raptor. He was whimpering like a puppy, and he seemed very frightened. The metal collar shined dully around his neck. It was held together by a mechanism that required opposable thumbs to operate. There were several scratches along the sides of the band. Apparently, the infant was unable to open the clasp on his own.

After careful consideration, Alan unfastened the device. If he was going to die, the least he could do was set this poor child free. At least it would cause a little commotion for Wu. After fiddling around for a bit, Alan managed to unlock the bolt. The collar fell to the ground heavily, kicking up a small puff of dust. 

“All right. Go on, now!” Alan said tersely.

The raptor dashed away as soon as he let go, chirping nervously. He hid behind a bush, peeking out occasionally to see if Alan would attack. When he didn’t, the infant stepped out into the open and stared at him with curiosity and trepidation. He didn’t quite know what to make of this situation, it seemed.

Alan stared back at the raptor, who cocked his head innocently. Finally, the infant sprouted vibrant blue feathers and flew out of the pen. To finally see the avian mutation was so shocking that Alan wasn’t able to move for a solid minute. Eventually, he began to worry. If he was found alone in the paddock, there was a great deal of things that could go wrong. He was supposed to be dead, and there was no doubt that Wu would attempt to finish the job if he found out that his plan hadn’t succeeded.

_CRACK!_

Alan leapt to his feet as a shower of sparks snapped and crackled over his head. The noise was startling, but it dissipated after a few seconds. Alan looked up from under his arms, which he had been using to cover his face. The top of the fence had been violently split in half by a fallen tree, which smoked like a discarded cigar. What on earth had happened?

Alan froze when he heard a rhythmic sliding sound. The hiss was broken into intervals, like the sweeping of a broom. Slowly, a vine descended through the aperture, sliding down the wall like a drunken snake. When it hit the ground, the plant stopped moving. Alan stepped forward cautiously. The raptor peeked over the precipice.

<Squawk!>

He looked at the vine, then at Alan, then at the vine again. Was this a rescue?

Tugging on the vine to make sure that it would support his weight, Alan hoisted himself up, little by little. He spun around a couple of times, but made it over the wall without major incident. When he tumbled onto the viewing platform, the raptor backed away timidly. Alan stood up and brushed himself off.

“Thanks . . .”

“No problem!”

With this, Alan nearly stumbled backwards over the fence.

“YOU CAN _TALK_?!” he sputtered. The raptor blinked.

“I can mimic. Parrots mimic.”

“Parrots? . . .”

“They’re a type of bird,” the raptor said matter-of-factly.

“I know what a parrot is!” Alan spat.

“Then why’d you ask?” 

“I wasn’t- I just- What does any of this have to do with _PARROTS_?” Alan shrieked.

The raptor donned blue plumage to make a point.

“Ah. So you can vocalize. That’s interesting . . .”

“Not vocalize: mimic.”

Alan shook his head.

“You aren’t just mimicking; you’re _conversing_. We understand each other. Parrots don’t know what they’re saying. They repeat words without conscious thought. Trust me: I taught Ellie’s macaw some _very_ colorful words . . .”

Alan thought about all the times Ellie’s mother had complained about the vulgar bird. It had gotten so bad that they were forced to put his cage in the basement during family dinners. The warmth of these memories was quickly overcast by the melancholic pang of loss, however. Alan sighed and directed his thoughts to the present. 

“You know, I think you’re smarter than the average bird,” he said kindly.

“Thanks. You are too,” the raptor sassed. Alan laughed.

“I sure hope so. I’m Alan, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you. I don’t have a name, but my mother is the chieftain.”

“So, you have a pack?” Alan asked. The raptor nodded.

“Yes. There are sixty-eight of us.”

Alan’s eyes went wide.

“That’s . . . a lot of raptors,” he said blankly.

“Yeah, we tend to stick together. It’s safer that way.”

Alan nodded.

“Well, you’d better meet up with your family before Wu comes back . . .”

The raptor pawed at the ground uneasily.

“I . . . I don’t know if I can find them on my own . . .” he said quietly.

“Don’t you know where they are?” Alan asked.

“Well, we live at the bottom of Mount Sibo . . .”

Alan stared across the island. The mountain was very far, even for something as fast as a raptor. And then there were the predators . . .

“Look . . . if you want, I can take you there,” Alan sighed with defeat.

“Really?” the raptor bubbled.

“Sure, sure. Just don’t let me slow you d-”

The raptor hopped onto his shoulders. Alan stumbled. He was heavier than he looked.

“Oh, this is going to be so much _fun_! We can go see the plains, the mountains, the canyon . . . My brothers told me that there’s a haunted bridge that goes across the canyon. Can we cross it? Please, please, please?”

“We’ll see . . .” Alan grunted as he steadied himself.

“Yippee! We’re going on an ADVENTURE!”

Alan smiled. After so much heartache, it was nice to see some enthusiasm, even from a raptor. He just hoped that his pack would be merciful . . . Oh, hell, nothing could be worse than Wu and his scientists.

With the raptor blabbering excitedly on his shoulders, Alan began his trek into the lush jungle, uncharacteristically wary of the scientists who occupied the very compound he was leaving.

 

***TSJPFEW***  


Much to Ellie’s surprise, the bruised raptor (now affectionately nicknamed Rocky) brought back a wide array of berries and fruit. Most of it turned out to be poisonous or inedible, but Ellie managed to pick out a bunch of bananas and a couple of wild strawberries to eat. The grilled raptor (Buzz) made a few nasty comments about primates while Ellie wolfed down the bananas, but she was far too famished to care. 

It was getting easier to identify the raptors, she noticed, though this wasn’t merely due to her ability to recognize their distinct voices. Some sort of instinct seemed to be kicking in, though Ellie didn’t know whether it was scent-based or visual. The other five raptors in the band of eight had distinct personalities, which made them identifiable by their posture and movement. While they tended to oppose her naming habits (indeed, they weren’t that flattering, though it was partly deserved), there was nothing stopping her from designating certain epithets in her mind. For simplicity’s sake, it was far easier to assign titles to the gang.

First, there was Bucky. He was very impulsive and not all that bright (for a raptor, that is). Like Ellie, he had a certain energy about him, though it was amplified to an excessive degree. Although he lacked patience, he didn’t seem to let himself get frustrated with the other raptors. Ellie generally liked him, and he didn’t seem to have any particular quarrel with her.

Next, there was Lance. Ellie harbored negative feelings towards him, as he appeared to be boastful and vain. He seemed to enjoy her company, as she was the only person polite enough to listen to his self-indulgent anecdotes. Aside from his pride, he seemed to be athletic, which could be helpful if she ever figured out what her big plan was going to be.

After that, there was Crusher. Oh, how Ellie _hated_ Crusher. If there was one raptor who was more bumptious than Lance, it was _definitely_ him. To make matters worse, he seemed to have a sadistic personality (admittedly, Ellie had expected this from _more_ raptors, but that didn’t mean that his graphic description of hadrosaur evisceration was any less disgusting to listen to).

On the opposite side of the spectrum was Kipper. He was cheerful and pleasant. For this reason, he often got into little scraps with Crusher. These were mostly short-lived, however, and rarely violent (from Kipper’s side, anyway).

Finally, there was Otto. Ellie didn’t quite know what to make of him. He didn’t speak, and he never really changed his expression. He just stared blankly at everything. Something about him was unsettling, though it was hard to say what the root of this phenomenon was. In any case, she felt uncomfortable making eye contact with him.

Ellie was somewhat disappointed to learn that her group comprised of misfits and outcasts within the colony. Aside from the scarred raptor, their band was held together with the disciplinary equivalent of day-old sticky tack. She would need _a lot_ more support if they were going to raid the human side of the park.

 

 _If_.

 

By this point, Ellie’s situation was something of a ball toss. She KNEW that it was a longshot, she KNEW that her skills weren’t up to par, she KNEW that the game was probably rigged, but by god, if she was going to lose anyway, there was no harm in taking the shot. Maybe she could even have a little fun while she was at it . . .

As the sky went dark, the raptors began to trickle out of the clearing to find refuge in the caves. Soon, her own group retreated as well. As they entered a dark cavern, Ellie noticed that certain raptors were headed in the opposite direction. She had wondered why the pack seemed to be active during the day, but now it was clear that they alternated between diurnal and nocturnal individuals. She had no doubt that their eyes were sharp enough to see in the dark. They were, after all, able to guide her through the cave, which indicated that their night vision was better than her own.

When they finally arrived on a flat stretch of rock (which happened to be a good distance away from most of the other raptors), the gang rested in a sort of dog-pile. Not wanting to interfere with them, Ellie lay down a few feet away. The rock was cold, but she was very, very tired.

<Pssst!>

Ellie opened her eyes. Rocky was looking at her expectantly.

<What is it?> she asked quietly.

<Is it true that humans don’t lay eggs?>

Ellie raised her eyebrow.

<Yes. Most mammals don’t lay eggs.>

The raptor stared in disbelief.

<Do the babies just come out whole?>

Ellie nodded. The raptor gaped.

<How->

A female from the other group shushed them.

<Sorry!> he said, lowering his voice, <How do they fit their arms through?>

Ellie shrugged.

<They come out head first, so they probably just tuck them in.>

<Yuck.>

Ellie smiled.

<Well, it’s certainly a lot messier than egg-laying,> she sighed, <I’m sorry for throwing rocks at you, by the way . . .>

<Oh, it’s nothing,> he hummed, <It takes a lot more than sticks and stones to take down a raptor . . .>

<Like electricity, for example?> Buzz hissed bitterly.

<Well, I’m sorry about that too,> Ellie whispered, <Even though it was _technically_ your fault.>

< _MY_ FAULT?! >

The raptor shushed them again.

<Sorry . . .> he whispered, < _My_ fault? Why on earth would it be _my_ fault? >

<Because you jumped on me,> Ellie said simply.

<She’s right, you know,> Rocky added. Buzz snuffed.

<Well, it’s not _my_ fault you wouldn’t sit still . . . >

<Forgive me for not wanting to _die_ ,> Ellie snapped.

<Cut it out! You’re going to get us in trouble!> Rocky hissed.

<You should listen to him,> the scarred raptor interjected, <I have a low tolerance for petty arguments.>

<And some of us are _trying_ to rest! > Lance added.

<We wouldn’t want to interrupt your beauty sleep . . .> Ellie sassed coyly. Lance hissed and turned away from them.

<He’s a sensitive fellow, isn’t he?> Ellie whispered.

<He’s just not used to being around a human, that’s all . . . > Rocky said apologetically.

<I don’t think any raptors are. Not that I blame you. I can’t imagine the scientists have been particularly kind . . .>

<Understatement of the century!> Buzz hissed.

<Or in your case, several million years . . .> Ellie quipped.

<Hey, I’m only eight months old!> Buzz retorted.

<Fair enough . . . Wait, you’re only _eight months_ _old_? > Ellie gasped.

<Yeah, why?>

<Well, you seem to be almost fully-grown. That doesn’t match our paleontological estimates . . . Then again, nothing’s cut-and-dried with InGen . . .>

<What do you mean?> Rocky asked.

Ellie crinkled her nose.

<Well, I heard that you were given extended lifespans, but as far as growth-rate is concerned, I never really thought about it. It makes sense, though. I don’t know how long InGen has been making dinosaurs, but I’ll bet that they couldn’t produce fully-grown brachiosaurs without a little tampering. Who are your oldest raptors?>

<I’m one of the oldest,> the scarred raptor said with a newfound interest, <I’m only three years old. I was born in the wild, but many of my broodmates died when our parents left. They were taken away because the scientists deemed them unsafe for public viewing.>

<I’m sorry . . .> Ellie said gently.

<Don’t be. When the contained raptors died, I became chieftain for a short period of time. They shipped new raptors over from Sorna, and their leader wasn’t very strong. I killed her. One of the remaining four was murdered by a human. Then our _current_ chieftain came along . . .>

<She seems like a jerk,> Ellie remarked.

<She’s our mother,> Rocky and Buzz chorused.

Ellie sucked air through her teeth.

<Sorry . . .>

<She challenged me . . . and won,> the scarred raptor continued, <But she considers me an asset, so I am allowed to live . . .>

<Is she the one who, um . . .> Ellie mumbled, pointing to her scar awkwardly.

<No. That was a human.>

Ellie nodded.

<So, where was the chieftain born? There were only three raptors in the paddock when I came here last, and they all died . . .>

<That’s where things get interesting . . .> the scarred raptor said once she was sure that no one else was eavesdropping, <Rumor has it that the chieftain was hatched in a lab on this very island.>

<Our pack leader was defeated by a _housepet_! > Crusher laughed. The scarred raptor snapped at him.

<I was NOT defeated by a housepet! Our chieftain is unnaturally gifted in combat . . .>

<Do you usually kill each other during dominance displays?> Ellie asked fearfully.

<Not always. Like I said, an asset is an asset. But some assets are better than others . . .> the scarred raptor sighed regretfully, <Anyway, I didn’t particularly want to kill that raptor from Sorna, if that’s what you’re asking.>

<Everyone keeps talking about Sorna. What _is_ it? > Ellie whispered.

<The other island,> Lance interjected, <Most of us were born there.>

Great. So there were TWO dinosaur-infested islands to worry about. It made sense, though. InGen had a certain talent for prehistoric breeding, but no one was _that_ good. Their rate of survival must not be as flawless as they claimed . . .

<So why was your chieftain not born on Sorna?> Ellie asked.

<Who knows?> Crusher huffed with exasperation, <We’ve tried asking around, but no one actually witnessed her birth.>

<Or what came after,> the scarred raptor sneered, <She fights like a demon. No one knows why. She’s cruel, ruthless, and stubborn. I’m surprised you were able to convince her to spare your life.>

<Well, I have a way with words,> Ellie replied airily, <In all honesty, I don’t think she’s a particularly good leader.>

<She commands respect,> the scarred raptor said tersely.

<Admiration doesn’t stem from fear,> Ellie jeered, <Tyrants are almost always overthrown in the end . . .>

<I’m not going to challenge her to a rematch, if _that’s_ what you’re hinting at. Even if it was possible to win, don’t think for a _second_ that I’d set you free. As far as I’m concerned, you’re only out to save your own hide. If that’s what it takes to get you to help us, fine. But I’m _not_ putting your needs ahead of anyone else’s. >

<I know . . .> Ellie sighed, <I just wish you hadn’t sprung this on me so suddenly . . .>

The scarred raptor twitched uncomfortably.

<We- . . . I don’t like taking hostages. I wish there was some other way, but the scientists are picking us off one by one . . .>

<I understand,> Ellie hummed, <And I promise to do everything I can to help you.>

It was clear that none of the raptors believed her, but she decided not to press the issue any further. Truth be told, she was starting to side with them, a little. InGen had no right to take away their children for experimentation. These were intelligent beings, not livestock. They had rights . . .

Ellie shivered. It was hard to tell whether she was feeling _true_ empathy or having a mental breakdown. Maybe this was some form of capture-bonding. This thought haunted Ellie until she fell asleep. For the first time in several days, she did not have a nightmare. Even on the cold, stone floor, Ellie slept like a log. It was hard, after all, to be afraid of bad dreams whilst sleeping amongst carnivores.


	15. Volcano

Volcano

“You know, not everyone believed me when I said that you guys lived longer than us. One of my friends told me that humans only live five years, but you look _really_ old, so he must be wrong!”

Alan chuckled. For the past half hour, he had been subjugated to a barrage of questions and nature trivia, and he couldn’t be happier about it. Something about the raptor’s cheerfulness seemed to be contagious. He had all the innocence of a toddler, yet he was more perceptive than most human children would be. Being a dinosaur, he was expected to learn how to be independent at a very young age. Because of this, he would swing between extreme confidence and reserved shyness, sometimes quite spontaneously. It made the trip _very_ interesting, _that_ was for sure.

“And how old do you think I am?” Alan asked sneakily.

“At least nine . . .”

Alan laughed.

“Well, I’m _quite_ a bit older than that. I’ve been told that Nublar raptors live just as long as humans. Maybe you’ll outlive me . . .”

 “If the scientists don’t get me first! . . . I don’t know if I can wait any longer to grow up. My mom is always telling me that I’m destined to do great things, but I’m not big enough to scare anyone yet.”

“I don’t know, you seemed pretty scary to me . . .” Alan assured him.

“Really?” he beamed.

“Oh, sure. You had me shivering in my boots!” 

“Hey! You’re not even _wearing_ boots!”

“Because you scared them right off of me . . .”

“Haha! You’re funny!”

“I try. Say, what do you call a blind dinosaur?”

“What?”

“Do-you-think-he-saurus.”

The raptor giggled uncontrollably, nearly falling off of Alan’s shoulders.

“Careful! You don’t want to- OOF!”

The dinosaur pushed Alan’s hat over his eyes.

“Sorry!”

“No problem . . .” Alan said as he steadied himself, “Just be careful. I don’t think your mother would be too pleased if I brought you back in more than one piece.”

The raptor sighed.

“She’s _never_ pleased. I’ve tried to prove to her that I’m brave, but I always get into trouble. That’s how I got caught in the first place; I was trying to hunt on my own. I guess it was a stupid idea . . .”

Alan gave a half-smile.

“At least you’re safe now.”

“Until we get back! My mom is going to be _furious_. I wish she was nice, like you. Do you have any children?” 

“No.”

“Do you have a partner?”

“. . . Not anymore.”

“Oh . . . Are you going to find someone else to, um . . . What do people do? . . . another person to _marry_?”

“I don’t think I’m going to marry anybody,” Alan said.

“Me neither.”

They walked for a while. After a few minutes, the raptor poked Alan’s cheek with his claw.

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

Just when it seemed that they were going to leave it at that, the raptor resumed his cascade of questions.

“What happened to your last partner?”

“She died.”

“How?”

“She drowned.”

“Was she nice?”

“Yes.”

“Was she pretty?”

“Yes.”

“Was she smart?”

“Yes.” 

“Why didn’t you have kids?”

Alan slowed his pace.

“Things got in the way.”

“Biological things?”

Boy, this kid had a vocabulary.

“No,” Alan sighed, “We were just busy after . . .”

“After what?”

“After our first visit,” Alan finished simply. 

“Oh,” the raptor said understandingly, though Alan knew for a fact that he had no idea what he was talking about, “What was she like?”

“Well . . .” Alan began, “She was very . . .”

Was there a single word that could describe Ellie? Alan didn’t think so.

“. . . cheerful,” he finished weakly.

“Cheerful?” 

“Yeah . . .”

Apparently, the raptor couldn’t tell that Alan was uncomfortable talking about this particular subject. He didn’t know whether this was related to his age or his species. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

“We’d better find a place to rest,” Alan said grumpily, “It’ll be dark soon.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

<Pssst!>

Ellie didn’t remember falling asleep. Her first thought was that it had only been a few minutes since the raptors had last spoken to her, but the moon was lighting the wall in a completely different place than before. 

< _Pssssssssst_! >

<I’m awake! I’m awake!> Ellie whispered drowsily, <What is it?>

Bucky shushed her.

<Follow us. Don’t get caught.>

Bucky, Kipper, Rocky, and Buzz pulled her away from the other four raptors. They pushed her deeper into the cave. Apparently, there were two exits. Wonderful.

The raptors caught her as she tripped over a jagged stone. 

<You know, this would be easier if you were a raptor . . .> Kipper hinted. Ellie shivered.

<I . . . I don’t think I can _do_ that. It might look bad if we get caught . . . >

<Use your eyes, then.>

At first, Ellie thought it was a petty invective, but then she remembered that she could change her body in isolation. She focused on her eyes. Suddenly, the cave was almost perfectly lit. Raptor vision was nothing short of a miracle.

<Okay, I can see now. Where are we going?>

Buzz shushed her. Ellie scowled, but continued walking.

They snuck out of the cave one by one, painted silver with the gentle tinge of moonlight. When they were all outside, they huddled in a circle.

<Are we ready?> Kipper asked.

<I don’t know what’s going on . . .> Ellie hissed.

<You’ll see. First, we must travel through the jungle and . . . and . . .>

He turned to the mouth of the cave. Otto was standing inside, staring down at them with his trademark expression. Everyone looked at him expectantly, but he did nothing.

<Fine. I guess he’s coming along with us . . .> Rocky said uneasily.

Otto slithered down and joined them without saying a word.

<So, where _exactly_ are we going? . . . > Ellie asked.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

A nauseating wave of heat washed over Ellie’s face as a bubble of lava burst in front of her. The inside of Mount Sibo was churning with a fiery broth of molten rock. The temperature was borderline intolerable, especially since she was standing barefoot on volcanic rocks. The lava was spitting and splashing nearby in a slow-moving river of fire and sludge. Ellie didn’t like where this was going . . .

<So, what are we supposed to do?> she asked nervously.

Buzz and Rocky smiled at each other (and yes, raptor smiles were terrifying).

< _You_ are going to cross the boiling river and bring us a shiny stone,> Buzz said malevolently. Ellie looked at the rock bridge that led to a dark cave on the other side of the gurgling slag. This was a _very_ bad idea.

<I’m gonna have to say _no_ to this . . . > she sighed.

<Don’t you want to be one of us?> Bucky coaxed. Ellie frowned.

<Is this some sort of rite of passage?> 

<Maybe . . .> Kipper giggled.

<I’m not going to do something stupid for a bunch of _teenagers_. Do your parents know you’re here? > Ellie sassed.

<They’re _dead_ ,> Bucky and Kipper chorused.

<But if you want to take it up with _our_ mother, we could arrange a meeting . . .> Buzz threatened. Ellie sighed.

<If I do this, will you promise to behave yourselves in the future?> 

<Yes!> they chirped (except for Otto). Ellie stretched her arms.

<Okay . . . Here we go!>

She stepped onto the bridge gingerly.

<BANG!>

Ellie jumped. Buzz laughed like a hyena.

<Gotcha! She’s awful jumpy, isn’t she?>

<If I fall, I’m blaming _you_ . . . > Ellie grumbled.

She shuffled up the formation with a sheepish trepidation. When she was at the highest point, a small chunk of rock tumbled into the lava below with a bubbling hiss. Ellie gulped and padded down the other side.

<Okay, I made it,> she said shakily.

<Good. Now grab a rock,> Kipper shouted.

<A _shiny_ rock, > Bucky added.

Ellie stepped into the cave. Using her raptor eyes, she scanned the tunnel. Finding nothing, she journeyed deeper into the cavern. As she leaned up against the blackened walls, Ellie’s hands became smudged with a charcoal-like powder. She wiped them on her pants, leaving dark streaks across her legs. _That_ probably wouldn’t wash out . . .

After a few minutes, Ellie was ready to give up. She didn’t see any shiny stones lying around, and her feet were starting to look sooty. What did they even _mean_ by “shiny stones”? Was there some sort of marble or granite that she was looking for? Were the walls polished in places? What kind of rocks even _grew_ in volcanoes? Maybe she would find limestone or lapilli or . . . HOLY MOTHER OF DIAMONDS!

A plethora of rough diamonds lined the walls like a galaxy of gems. Ellie was no expert in geology (aside from fossils, of course), but she could say with absolute certainty that this cave was worth a _shit-gazillion_ dollars. 

<You alright?> Kipper’s voice echoed from the other side of the tunnel.

<YOU NEVER TOLD ME THERE WERE _DIAMONDS_! > Ellie shrilled.

<You never asked. And we _did_ say “shiny stones” . . .>

Ellie rolled her eyes. These raptors were unbelievable . . .

After pulling a hunk of diamond from the wall, Ellie climbed out of the cave and trotted across the bridge. When she reached the pack, she held out the stone in the palm of her hand.

<There, you happy?> she grumbled.

They stared at her with disbelief.

< _Well_? Aren’t you going to _take_ it? > she prompted.

<You only took _one_. . . > Rocky marveled. Ellie threw her hands in the air.

<Oh, _come on_! That was _really_ dangerous. If you wanted _more_ , you should have _asked_! >

<No, that’s not what I meant. You _could_ have taken more, but you didn’t.>

Ellie sighed with exasperation.

<Look, you _asked_ for one, and you’re _getting_ one, > she said, dropping it into his paw unceremoniously, <Can we _leave_ now? >

Rocky looked at the diamond. He placed it gently on the ground. When he was sure that Ellie was watching, he kicked the stone into the river of lava. It disappeared into the slag with a light “plink”.

<So . . . all of this was for nothing?> Ellie grumbled monotonously.

<Are you mad?> Buzz asked cruelly. Ellie sighed.

<No, I guess not. Just don’t make me do it again.>

<We won’t,> Kipper gurgled.

<Come on, let’s go home,> Buzz sighed, disappointed by her nonchalance.

They walked in single file towards the camp. Ellie trailed at the back of the group, occasionally dodging the branches that Bucky would let loose (unintentionally, though that didn’t make it any better). When they arrived at the mouth of the cave, Ellie stopped.

<Wait . . . Why did you ask for more diamonds if you were just going to throw them in the lava anyway?> she asked with confusion.

<We didn’t ask for more diamonds . . .> Rocky replied.

<Now, _that’s_ just an outright _lie_ ,> Ellie hummed.

<We were just surprised that you didn’t pocket a few, that’s all . . .>

Ellie snorted.

<What good are diamonds to me? I’m probably going to die in three days . . .>

Rocky nodded.

<Probably.>

<Are you two coming?> Kipper whispered from above.

<Yeah, just a minute,> Rocky replied.

<Do raptors count time?> Ellie wondered.

<Not exactly. But speaking of time, you don’t have much left . . .>

Ellie shrugged.

<Three days is plenty, given the circumstances.>

Rocky turned away. He seemed to be a little upset. Ellie walked over to him.

<You okay?>

<You’re not like the scientists. We didn’t expect you to be . . . Oh, I don’t know . . . But this makes things a lot harder . . .>

Ellie wasn’t sure that she understood him perfectly. He noticed her consternation.

<I don’t want anything to happen to you. If this _plan_ of yours fails . . . >

<Oh, don’t worry about _me_ ,> Ellie said with a smile, <We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, we need to focus on the positive.>

<But what if->

Ellie shook her head.

<Whatever happens on the third day is solely dependent on the effort we put into this plan. We can’t let ourselves be afraid. If we do, then I’ll die for sure . . .>

Boy, that wasn’t as encouraging when she said it out loud. Regardless, Rocky seemed to be satisfied.

<Okay. I believe you. I just hope you know what you’re doing . . .>

Funnily enough, Ellie now knew _exactly_ what she was doing. The pieces of her plan were slowly falling into place, though the general scheme was a little rough around the edges. Even so, there was no doubt that she could pull it off.

With a little help, of course . . .

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“Tell me a story.”

Alan groaned. 

“It’s late . . .” 

They were curled up beneath a fluffy bush. Alan had _no_ idea why the raptor was still awake: he had been too tired to _stand_ five minutes ago . . .

“Please . . .”

“I’m exhausted,” Alan grumbled.

The raptor poked him. Then he poked him again. This marked the beginning of a bombardment of poking. It was not pleasant.

“Alan? _Alan_? Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan-”

“If I tell you a story, will you go to sleep?” Alan barked.

“YEAH!”

“Once upon a time, there was a little squirrel who lived in a tree-” he began.

“What’s a squirrel?”

Alan sighed.

“Once upon a time, there was a little _compsognathus_ who lived in a tree-”

“Compsognathuses don’t live in trees!”

Alan rubbed his brow.

“Look, maybe we should just go to bed . . .”

The raptor pouted. At least, he gave the impression of pouting.

“Fine, _fine_ . . . So, what should this story be about?” Alan grumbled with defeat.

The raptor thought for a minute.

“What about _you_? I’m sure _you_ have lots of interesting stories . . .”

“Well, I have this one . . .”

“Tell me!”

“Well, it starts like this . . .”


	16. The Puddle Story

The Puddle Story

_Alan had seen just about every inch of silt on planet Earth. He never really got sick of the badlands, but he had to admit that there was a certain same-ness about them. Once in a while, he’d be asked to visit somewhere beautiful like Argentina or Colorado, which was a welcomed change from the usual Montana lakebed. The sand in these locations seemed to have a red-orange tone, which was easy on the eyes. A splash of color was always nice, especially when so many landscapes up north were dismal and grey. Such gloominess was visually exhausting, not to mention yawn-inducing. The only thing worse than grey badlands was white sand. Alan had nearly fried his retinas in Utah (though, to be fair, he had forgotten to pack sunglasses for that trip). In any case, this particular dig site was dull as dishwater._

_He had been told that this part of the badlands was something of a tourist attraction. This was, in part, due to the general lack of things to do near Eureka, Montana. Even though this dig seemed to be failing, a couple of townsfolk had volunteered to serve as an audience while the paleontologists pursued their ever-failing efforts. It was embarrassing, yes, but not unbearable._

_In a way, Alan was glad that his team hadn’t found anything valuable yet: the place was crawling with kids. Apparently, the spectators thought it was a brilliant idea to bring their children to a worksite with heavy equipment and sharp excavation tools. Alan didn’t want to be liable if they injured themselves, not to mention the bad press that such an accident would receive. They were barely making enough money to cover their expenses, and funding could be pulled at any moment . . ._

_Alan’s fears were realized when a huge crash came from a nearby tent. He raced over to examine the situation. The culprit, however, was not a child._

_Two assistants barged out of the tent with frustration. One of them marched straight up to Alan and waggled his finger angrily._

_“I warned you, didn’t I? She has NO experience in the field! If you want interns, there’s plenty down at U of M . . .”_

_Alan sighed and pushed him away gently._

_“Look, just go easy on her, okay? I’m sure it’s not THAT bad . . .”_

_Upon peeling back the front flap of the tent, Alan was confronted with a chaotic scene. His carefully-stacked tupperwares had all been knocked over, and the fragile contents were strewn across the floor like confetti. A heavy filing cabinet had fallen on a table, splitting it into two halves. Some large (and important) fossils had been crushed under the metal. In the center of this mess, a very apprehensive woman was trying desperately to sweep the fossils into their proper containers. When she saw Alan, she shrunk away a little and bit her lip._

_“Dr. Grant . . .”_

_Alan stepped forward and yanked a plastic bin out of her hands._

_“Care to explain, Dr. Sattler? . . .”_

 

_***TSJPFEW***_

_Just as Alan expected, the new intern was exhausted from sleep-deprivation. For the past few weeks, she had shown up to work with bags under her eyes, not to mention wild and tangled hair. She was often tardy, though she sometimes showed up after hours to make up for her ineptitude (though Alan suspected that she was actually just coming to work at the wrong time). He didn’t know how to approach her about this. She had been through a lot, after all, and he lacked the savoir-faire required to confront the issue. Nevertheless, he invited her to his trailer for coffee. It was a start, anyway._

_When she arrived at his door, Dr. Sattler was a mess, as usual. Aside from looking like she had been caught in a tornado, her clothing was noticeably asymmetrical. She had one sleeve rolled up, while the other wasn’t even buttoned; her shoes were tied with sloppy bows; her mismatched socks were inside out . . . Her appearance would have been comical, were it not for the tragedy of the situation._

_“Dr. Sattler . . . Care to take a seat?”_

_She lowered herself onto a stool shakily._

_“Now, I’m sure-”_

_“I’m sorry about the bins!” she blurted, “It won’t happen again: I promise. I was just a little tired . . .”_

_A little? It took more than mild drowsiness to topple ten tupperwares._

_“I know you’re tired. That’s why you need to sleep,” Alan said softly._

_Sattler shifted uncomfortably._

_“I . . . I try-”_

_“Look, I know that the incident with the pigfern-”_

_“Hogweed.”_

_“I know that the incident with the hogweed was a traumatic experience, but I can’t let you endanger my staff-”_

_She stood up, nearly knocking her coffee off the table._

_“Please, just give me one more chance. I won’t screw up, not this time . . .”_

_She looked as though she might cry._

_“Please . . .” she whispered._

_Alan sighed._

_“Okay, but you need to promise me that you’ll get some sleep.”_

_She nodded furiously._

_“Yes, yes, I promise . . .”_

_“Good. And stay away from the acids baths for now . . .”_

 

_***TSJPFEW***_

 

_Dr. Sattler kept her promise, though the circumstances were quite different from what Alan had been expecting. She developed a kind of narcolepsy in the weeks that followed, often dozing off while she was digging on the ground or sitting at a table. During her naps, Alan instructed everyone to keep their distance. If this was what it took to get her to rest, then he was in no position to argue._

_The only problem with this system arose when someone got the brilliant idea to play pranks while Sattler was asleep. It started off with the usual post-it-notes-on-the-face gag, but escalated quickly when someone discovered that she had a deep-rooted fear of starfish. Alan would often be stirred from his work when he heard a panicked scream, followed by a surge of cussing. He learned to ignore these outbursts, though he wondered where everyone was getting so many goddamn starfish._

_Unfortunately, these pranks became so frequent that Dr. Sattler would refuse to fall asleep, eventually lapsing back into her lethargic clumsiness. She was unable to cause much ruckus, however, for the staff had learned to hang dried starfish from their tents to prevent her from entering. These makeshift forcefields repelled her like a string of garlic might repel vampires, hindering her already faltering efforts to get any work done. Like a lonely phantom, she haunted the site all day, drifting around the perimeter without direction._

_One morning, after a particularly long sleepover at the site, a chorus of shrieks and screams resonated through the hills. Someone had placed no less than twenty rubber rattlesnakes in each and every tent, tying them to desk drawers and other mobile furniture with fishing line. This created the illusion of an attack when the traps were set in motion, resulting in mass hysteria and widespread panic (two people even lost consciousness, fainting dramatically on the sand)._

_When the trick was unveiled, everyone immediately suspected that Dr. Sattler was to blame. It didn’t add up, though, as the starfish were mysteriously absent from each tent. She couldn’t have taken them down herself, and no one would have assisted her in such a short period of time. Stranger still, the paleontologists found that they had been banned from the local chinese medicine store for unspecified reasons, preventing them from purchasing any more starfish. It was all very suspicious . . ._

_When Sattler arrived to work that day (late, as usual), she seemed just as surprised as everyone else. Even so, she didn’t let the occasional glare dampen her spirits. As long as the camp was starfish-free, she had nothing to complain about._

 

_***TSJPFEW***_

 

_After the snake caper, the paleontologists eased up on their pranks. Once in a while, however, they would take advantage of Sattler’s sleeping spells by balancing excavation tools on her head. She would sometimes wake up with dentist picks or toothbrushes tied to her hair. Alan saw these pranks as harmless at first, until he noticed that some of these knots required cutting, leaving Dr. Sattler with erratic locks and random snips of hair missing. He therefore took preventative measures to ensure that it wouldn’t happen again._

_One day, when he saw three pranksters approach her at a picnic table, he sat down next to her sleeping form so as to frighten them off. Not wanting to be caught by their boss, they fled like a cluster of agitated crabs. At this point, the issue was resolved, but Alan felt it necessary to remain seated as a precaution._

_Seeing that Dr. Sattler was sleeping with half of her face exposed, Alan placed his hat over her head to shield her from the sun. Occasionally, she would mumble something under her breath. Alan suspected that she was having nightmares. Not knowing what to do, he put his hand on her arm awkwardly._

_This seemed to shut her up just fine._

 

_***TSJPFEW***_

 

_Eventually, the signs of fatigue began to fade from Sattler’s visage. She seemed bright, cheerful, and full of energy. Oddly enough, she still fell asleep at the picnic table every day, forcing Alan to take up his regular post (as a precaution, of course). He would usually leave as soon as she showed the first signs of waking up, but for some inexplicable reason, her naps were getting longer and longer. She certainly didn’t LOOK like she needed more rest; she had lost the darkness under her eyes a while back, in fact, her skin was very healthy-looking. From the gentle ridge of her nose to the bright contours of her cheeks, there was hardly anything to be criticized in her countenance. Her hair was looking better, too._

_As Alan examined her coif, he realized that he had probably been staring at her for an alarming amount of time. He stood up quickly and headed over to his trailer without looking back._

 

 _***TSJPFEW***_  
  


_During all of this, the team hadn’t come up with a single find. It was starting to look bad, and their audience was shrinking every day. Alan was inclined to believe that this area was just a dud, yet the trip hadn’t been a complete waste of time. Because Sattler had dumped out all of his specimens, Alan was able to rediscover some interesting fossils. He laid them out inside a tent and began to rearrange them one by one. It was tedious work, but not without intrigue. Still, it was hard to figure out exactly which bones went with which animal._

_In a mysterious twist of fate, Alan awoke one day to find each and every one of his skeletons assembled. Someone had been “cobbling shoes” in the night, and he hadn’t the faintest idea which elf was responsible for this surprise. He asked around, but nobody had witnessed the assembly. Finally, Alan decided to ask Dr. Sattler for her opinion. He found her eating lunch at their usual picnic table. This was the first time he had seen her awake in this area._

_“Dr. Sattler, do you know who organized my fossils?” he asked. She set down her thermos nervously. Alan could have sworn that he saw her hand shaking._

_“Why? Were they wrong?” she stuttered._

_“No, no. They were perfect. I just wish I knew who was responsible.”_

_She sipped her tea nonchalantly._

_“Well, I don’t know anything about it . . .”_

_“It’s the darnedest thing . . . I don’t understand who could have arranged them so meticulously. After all, compsognathus fossils are finicky . . .”_

_“Maybe the felon is just good at puzzles,” Sattler said with a shrug. Alan nodded._

_“Well, if you hear anything, tell me. I’ll be in my trailer.”_

_“All day?”_

_Alan ran his fingers through his hair._

_“Probably. I’ve been a little bit busy lately . . .”_

_She smiled._

_“Well, thanks for coming back, anyway.”_

_“Don’t mention it.”_

_It wasn’t until later that he began to grasp the discontinuity of her statement._

 

_***TSJPFEW***_

 

_“Dr. Grant! Dr. Grant!”_

_For once, Alan was the one who had fallen asleep on the job. His desk light was still on, even though it was now late in the day. He stretched out his back to nullify the effects of his awkward sleeping position._

_“Dr. Grant!”_

_A furious banging rattled his trailer door. When he opened it, Alan saw Sattler hopping from foot to foot. She continued to make knocking gestures for a few seconds after the door had been opened, but composed herself shortly after._

_“Dr. Grant! I found something!”_

_Alan gestured for her to calm down._

_“Alright, alright. What is it?”_

_“You have to come and SEE!” she trilled brightly._

_Alan rubbed his forehead._

_“Yeah, okay, just let me- WOAH!”_

_She grabbed his hand and dragged him across camp, nearly ripping his arm out of its socket._

_He trailed behind her in this manner until they reached a dried-up riverbed. Ellie pointed to a collection of brown bumps in the sand._

_“Oh my god . . .” Alan whispered, “Do you realize what this IS?”_

_She placed her hands on her hips and frowned._

_“Why do you think I brought you here?”_

_Alan just stood with his mouth agape._

_“. . . Dr. Grant? . . .”_

_Without warning, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight bear-hug. She tensed up a little, but returned the gesture._

_“Ellie Sattler, you are amazing . . .”_

 

_***TSJPFEW***_

 

_Every paleontologist agreed that this was the find of a century. Not only had they found four nearly complete raptor skeletons, but they had also found fossilized tracks around a dismembered tenontosaurus carcass, proving Alan’s pack-hunting theory._

_The next few weeks were hectic. With a newly established audience, everyone seemed eager to receive the celebrity status. Better yet, the group was warming up to Ellie, and she to them. With her days of immeasurable fatigue long behind her, she was working harder than ever, and twice so whenever Alan was around. She didn’t give the impression that she was trying to impress him, per se, but there was definitely an ulterior motive behind her unusual behavior._

_One day, when the two of them were painting the exposed fossils with rubber cement, she began to gravitate towards him until her face was almost pressed up against his. Was she doing that on purpose? Maybe she was just cold . . ._

_“Four complete skeletons . . . Such a small area . . . The same time horizon . . .” Alan mumbled._

_“They died together?” Ellie asked._

_“The taphonomy sure looks that way,” Alan replied._

_“If they died together, they lived together . . . Suggests some kind of social order . . .” she hypothesized._

_“They hunted as a team. They dismembered that tenontosaurus bone over there- that’s lunch- but what killed our raptors in a lakebed, and in a bunch like this? We better come up with something that makes sense.”_

_“A drought. The lake was shrinking . . .” Ellie began._

_“That’s good. That’s right!” Alan said excitedly, “They died around a dried-up puddle, without fighting each other! This is looking good . . .”_

_She bit her lip._

_“I don’t know, Alan. This seems awfully counter-intuitive. Weren’t they supposed to be ruthless killing machines?”_

_Alan shook his head._

_“Does eating a hamburger make you a murderer?”_

_“Why don’t you ask Jim? He’s a vegetarian . . .”_

_“Ethics aside, these raptors were not just monsters; they had complex social interactions, pecking orders . . .”_

_“Pecking? Careful, you’ll lapse back into your bird theory.”_

_Alan scoffed._

_“It’s a valid possibility . . .”_

_“I know. I believe you. But THEY don’t,” she said, pointing to the other paleontologists._

_“They didn’t believe me when I said that raptors were highly intelligent, either.”_

_“It does sound strange, though,” Ellie marveled, “I mean, who would believe that dinosaurs were emotional?”_

_“Well, when you say it like THAT . . .”_

_“How else would you say it?”_

_“Well, they experienced certain hormonal responses during social interactions.”_

_“Okay, now you’re just making them sound like teenagers.”_

_Alan laughed._

_“Nice. But the concepts are basically the same. They could feel joy, sorrow, anger . . .”_

_“And? . . .”_

_“Fear.”_

_“And? . . .”_

_“Surprise.”_

_“And? . . .”_

_“. . . Repulsion.”_

_“And? . . .”_

_“Hunger?”_

_She leaned closer._

_“And? . . .”_

_“It feels like you’re trying to get me to say something . . .”_

_She stood up unceremoniously._

_“I guess I’d better head home. It’s getting late.”_

_“What, now? But we’re in the middle of a spectacular event! We could be unearthing one of the greatest finds of the twentieth century!”_

_She shrugged._

_“You seem to be doing just fine without me . . .”_

_“But I need- I mean, I don’t- What I meant to say is-”_

_“Goodbye, Alan . . .”_

_Alan sighed._

_“Goodbye . . .”_

_Still lying on his stomach, Alan watched her leave. He continued to paint the exposed skeleton, but his mind was elsewhere. One of his workers approached him timidly._

_“Are you feeling okay, Dr. Grant? . . .” he inquired._

_“Mmmhm . . .” Alan hummed as his eyes followed her car away from the site._

_“. . . because you’re painting your arm with rubber cement . . .”_

_Alan looked down. Sure enough, his wrist was shining with an unnatural luster._

_“Indeed, I am.”_

_“Would you like me to get you a rag, or . . .”_

_“No, I’ll get it myself . . .”_

_“But you have to speak with the press in two minutes . . .”_

_Ellie’s car was headed for the loop along the highway. If he left now, he could- Oh, what was he thinking? This wasn’t urgent. He’d see her tomorrow . . ._

_“Dr. Grant?”_

_There was no hurry . . ._

_“Dr. Grant? . . .”_

_This could wait . . ._

 

_***TSJPFEW***_

 

_Alan just barely made it down the hill as Ellie turned the corner. When she saw him, she pulled to the side of the road and turned on her emergency lights. Alan bent over to catch his breath._

_“Dr. Grant? Is something wrong?” she asked as she ran over._

_“No- Not exactly-” Alan huffed._

_“Is there some sort of emergency? . . .”_

_“No, nothing like that . . .”_

_“Do you need me for something? . . .”_

_“No. Well, yes. Kind of . . .”_

_“Kind of? What do you mean? What’s going on?”_

_“Nothing . . .”_

_She frowned._

_“Then why’d you run down the hill like that? You almost gave me a heart attack . . .”_

_“It’s- Well, it’s like this . . .”_

_He trailed off, not knowing what to say. They stared at each other for a solid half-minute._

_“Well? . . .” Ellie prompted._

_“Uh . . . Well . . .” he stuttered, “I think it would be best if we went back to the dig site. Together.”_

_Ellie rubbed the back of her neck._

_“I don’t know . . . I don’t want to drive home in the dark.”_

_“Well- Well, you could stay overnight.”_

_“I-”_

_“I know, you probably want to head back into town . . .”_

_“Yes, I-”_

_“But what if I were to head back into town as well? With you.”_

_“I’d-”_

_“I guess that’s a bad idea. It’s late . . .”_

_“Are you going to let me speak?” Ellie snapped._

_“Okay . . .” Alan gulped._

_“If you’re asking what I think you’re asking, then the answer is yes. But only if you can explain to me- without beating around the bush- what it is you’re trying to say.”_

_Alan flinched. To do such a thing was impossible! He couldn’t just SAY it. But she had already said “yes”, hadn’t she? This was all very confusing . . ._

_Alan cleared his throat._

_“Ellie, we’ve known each other for a long t-”_

_“Skip the speech, just tell me what you want,” she asserted._

_“I want us to be a couple.”_

_“Me too. Was that so hard?” Ellie laughed._

_“Yes? . . .” Alan squeaked._

_“Oh, c’mere, you.”_

_They hugged in the middle of the road, with the car’s lights flashing red in the shadow of the almost-night._

_“Thank you for coming back,” Ellie whispered._

_“No problem. But we should probably get off the road.”_

_They attempted to split apart, but Alan found that he had trouble removing his arm from Ellie’s side._

_“Shit . . . I accidentally painted myself with rubber cement.”_

_“How-”_

_“Don’t ask.”_

_“Fine, fine. I just hope you weren’t using the strong stuff.”_

_“Uh . . .”_

_Ellie grimaced._

_“Well, we won’t be stuck together for TOO long, right? . . .”_

 

_***TSJPFEW***_

 

_Two hours later, they were finally admitted into the ER building for examination. The doctors and nurses had to fiddle around with various chemicals before pulling them apart. Alan had a very difficult time explaining their situation. Fortunately, the doctors had more important problems to deal with, and they were released without further questioning._

_“Crazy night, huh?” Ellie remarked as they walked through the parking lot._

_“You can say that again!” Alan laughed, putting his arm around her shoulders. Ellie gasped._

_“Oh, Alan! You’ll have missed your interview by now!”_

_“It’s fine. I sent Jim to speak with the press.”_

_“Are you sure that that was a good idea?”_

_“Yeah. There’s no possible way he could make a discovery like this look bad.”_

_The next day, many major papers had sent out an article with the headline: “After Years of Research, Man Discovers Puddle”._

_***TSJPFEW***_

 

“And they _published_ it?” the raptor gaped.

“Eeyup.”

“That’s crazy!”

“We thought so too. Especially since it was _Ellie_ who discovered it in the first place.”

“She must have been really nice.”

Alan nodded. 

“I wish I could have met her.”

Alan sighed.

“Go to bed, squeaker.”

“Okay. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”


	17. Tooth Fairy

Tooth Fairy

For once, Ellie was not the first to wake up in the morning. The raptors were all early birds, no pun intended. Even after the events of the night before, nobody felt groggy or tired. If anything, they were very pleasant towards Ellie. Crusher, Lance, and the scarred raptor noticed this, though they never asked why they were suddenly so chummy.

After a hearty breakfast (mangoes and parasaurolophus [respectively]), they set off on a southbound journey.

<So tell me, how exactly did you _meet_ these friends of yours? > the scarred raptor asked.

<Well, I got lost . . .>

<What she’s _really_ asking is why they didn’t kill you on the spot! > Bucky laughed. The scarred raptor snapped at him.

<Ow! Stop it!>

<It’s a long story,> Ellie said dismissively.

<Well, I know herrerasaurs, and they aren’t exactly a friendly bunch,> Buzz hissed.

<Says the guy who pushed me into an electric fence . . .> Ellie muttered.

<Yeah, BUZZ . . .> Rocky giggled.

<Stop _calling_ me that! See what you’ve done? > Buzz growled, bumping Ellie angrily with his side.

<He’s just jealous. Not everyone can be named after professional cyclists,> Lance boasted. Ellie laughed.

<Well, I didn’t really have that in mind . . . Wait, how do you->

<We picked up a couple of magazines from an abandoned trailer,> Crusher explained.

<You can _read_? Why am I not surprised . . . > 

<Quiet, all of you! We’re almost there,> the scarred raptor hissed.

A massive cascade of vines loomed in front of them. Like some kind of crazy modern sculpture, the structure dipped and twirled in pretzel-shapes, looking a whole lot like a roller-coaster that had been covered with vegetation. Probably because it _was_ a roller-coaster that had been covered with vegetation.

<Morton! Penelope! You there?> Ellie shouted. They slithered through the vines and ran up to greet her.

<Ellie! We thought you left the island! Why are you- WHO INVITED THE RAPTORS?!> Morton yapped.

<It’s alright: they’re with me,> Ellie reassured him, <I’ll explain everything in a second, but I need all of the herrerasaurs to gather first.>

Morton and Penelope exchanged a look. 

<Alright . . . But if your raptors try anything funny . . .>

<We’re not _her_ ra- mph! >

Ellie grabbed Lance’s snout to shut him up.

<They won’t attack you. I promise.>

Morton nodded and walked up to the structure.

<Herrerasaurs, assemble!>

A dozen red faces poked out of the vines. 

<As your king, I command you to listen to Ellie Sattler.>

<King?> a herrerasaur piped up, <Since when?>

<I thought we were an autonomous collective? . . .> another herrerasaur wondered.

<Shut up! I’m king!> Morton barked.

<Is that why you get to sleep in the cart?>

<That is irrelevant!> Morton growled.

<Tyranny!>

<We’re being oppressed!>

<This is against our civil rights!>

Ellie whistled with two fingers.

<Listen, all of you! We are on the verge of war!> she shouted. The herrerasaurs whispered to each other fretfully. At least she had their attention . . .

<The humans have been taking your children, killing your brethren, and destroying your home. We need to stop them.>

<Yeah, let’s rip ‘em apart!> Crusher growled.

<No! No, that is definitely NOT what we want to do,> Ellie asserted, <This mission does not require brute force. If we continue to pillage and rampage, they’ll just pick us off one by one . . .>

<So, what do we do?> Penelope asked.

<We need to work together. I know the theropods don’t always see eye-to-eye, but if this plan is to succeed, we need to forget our petty grudges for the next three days. Yes, we are different, but that’s why we’re gonna _win_ this thing! >

<What do you mean?> Morton asked, <How can we be united if we aren’t even the same species?>

Ellie felt like she was in a war movie.

<Because we can use our differences to our advantage. They won’t be expecting us to use our brains. We have the element of surprise.>

<This sounds dangerous . . .> Penelope mumbled shyly.

<Yes. It will be _very_ dangerous. But if we don’t stand together, we’ll die alone. They may take our lives, but they’ll never take _our freedom_! >

To Ellie’s surprise, her plagiarized speech actually resonated with the herrerasaurs. They roared in support, descending from their stronghold to enroll in the theropod army.

<I’ll bring them back to the camp,> Rocky volunteered. Ellie raised her eyebrow.

<Your mother-> 

<Don’t worry about her. We’ll explain everything,> Buzz interjected. Ellie nodded.

<Okay. Morton, Penelope, I’ll need you to stay with me. If the other dinosaurs see that we’ve joined forces, maybe they’ll be willing to help.>

<Other dinosaurs? . . .> Kipper echoed.

Ellie smiled coyly.

<Of course. Did you think I was going to stop at the herrerasaurs?>

<This sounds like trouble . . .> Crusher grumbled.

<You don’t have to be a part of this . . .> Ellie said gently.

<I’ll do whatever our leader commands,> Crusher said brashly.

They turned to the scarred raptor. At first, she seemed surprised. She had obviously interpreted his use of the word “leader” to be synonymous with “chieftain”. 

Ellie held her breath. The scarred raptor stepped forward.

 

<Who’s next?>

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“Wake up, Alan! Wake up!”

The raptor bounced up and down on Alan’s side, nipping impatiently at his collar.

“Urrrrrrrrrgh . . .”

“WAKE UP!”

Alan snorted and turned over. The raptor pattered across his belly like a logroller. 

“Come _on_ , we need to get moving! There’s a whole island to explore!”

“In a minute . . .”

“ _Now_!”

“I need to rest . . .”

The raptor tugged on his sleeve. When Alan didn’t move, he started to drag him across the ground with his teeth.

“Crrrm errrn! Wrrr nrrrd trrr grrr . . .”

“Fine. You win. I’m up.”

Alan propped himself up on his elbow. He wasn’t used to sleeping on the ground, and his back felt like someone had decided to whack him with a spanner. He stretched out his arms and yawned.

“Boy, you don’t have very sharp teeth, do you?” the raptor remarked.

Alan chuckled.

“Humans aren’t exactly built for predation.”

“Do you lose your teeth like raptors do?”

“Yeah, we have baby teeth. But you probably have more than a single layer. The tooth fairy would have a _hell_ of a time with you . . .”

“Tooth fairy?” the raptor echoed.

“She takes teeth from under your pi- Well, she takes your teeth, anyway,” Alan mumbled, “And she gives you money.”

“Is that _all_? Why would somebody pay for a _tooth_?” the raptor wondered.

“People buy raptor teeth all the time. Well, not fresh ones, but-”

“What does she do with the teeth?”

“She collects them.”

“Oh,” the raptor hummed disappointedly.

“. . . And uses them to build weapons of mass destruction!” Alan finished. The raptor smiled and wagged his tail.

“Cool! Do you think she has _my_ teeth?”

“Undoubtedly,” Alan asserted.

“Wait . . . If people buy raptor teeth, then she can’t have _all_ of them . . .”

He was a clever kid, this one.

“Those are the discarded teeth she shoots out of her molar-cannon. They land on the earth like falling stars . . .”

“Okay, now you’re just making things up!” the raptor said dubiously.

“Absolutely _not_! I was injured by one of her tooth-bullets once.”

“No way!”

“ _Yes_ , way. I even have the scar to prove it!”

Alan showed him a small white line on his wrist.

“Wow. You must have made her REALLY angry.”

“Indeed, I did. I stole her magic watch.”

“Magic watch?”

Alan nodded.

“It was attached to her cavity-bomb, but I defused it before she was able to take over the world . . .”

“That’s _amazing_! How did you do it?”

Oh, this was going to be a _long_ story, wasn’t it? . . .

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

The scarred raptor watched as Ellie ran through the field. After convincing a gang of compys and a couple of bambies to join them, they had reached a roadblock. Whereas compsognathus and bambiraptors were feeble-minded in a good way, gallimimus were just plain stupid. Like a flock of seagulls, they pattered across the plains in a tight formation, losing Ellie at every turn. She had decided to morph into a galli herself, but she lacked the hive-mentality required to follow them.

<If you’ll just listen for a sec- Okay, I guess we’re going _this_ way, then. So, as I was saying, I have- Alright, left is good too . . .>

The raptor whom Ellie had dubbed Crusher (who also happened to be one of the scarred raptor’s sons) watched her swivel and spin.

<Tenacious, isn’t she?>

The scarred raptor said nothing. Her other son (dubbed Lance) approached them from the side.

<What are we going to do if she fails?> he asked worriedly.

<We’ll have to wait and see . . .> she replied, turning away from the thunderous flock.

<Mother, I saw the others sneak her out of the cave last night . . .> he blurted.

<Yes, they took her to the volcano.>

<So you _knew_? > he shrilled.

<Of course I knew! What do you take me for?> she hissed.

<Why did you let them leave?> 

Obviously, Lance was jealous that he hadn’t been included in their escapade.

<It’s good for morale. They trust her now.>

<But what if she fails?>

Suddenly, a loud shriek came from the front of the flock.

<Listen up, bird-brains!> Ellie growled, <I am _sick_ and _tired_ of your passive-aggressive bullshit! You’re just a bunch of flocking idiots! >

<She talking to us?> a gallimimus croaked.

< _Yes_ , I am talking to you!> she snapped, <It is _your_ responsibility to join us and fight against InGen! >

<We run. Much safer,> the galli babbled.

<No, you do NOT run! You fight! No matter how fast you flee, your problems will always catch up with you in the end . . .>

<No understand. Running always works. If we fight, we die.>

<How much do you want to bet that she’ll quote Braveheart again?> Lance asked.

<Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you’ll live . . . at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just _one chance_ , to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take . . . _OUR FREEDOM_! >

<I don’t think she knows that we’ve read the monologue . . .> Lance sighed.

<Whatever works . . .> Crusher grumbled.

<Maybe the bambies will tell her . . .> 

<Quiet, you two. Let her work,> the scarred raptor said calmly.

<Mother, she’s going to get us _killed_ ,> Lance objected.

<No. She won’t.>

<And _why not_? > he spat.

<Because she is not _like_ the others. She has more raptor in her than any human I’ve ever seen . . . >

<That’s _impossible_! This whole _mission_ is impossible! > Lance huffed with frustration.

<It’s only impossible if you believe it’s impossible.>

<How long did it take you to come up with THAT brilliant logic?> he snapped.

Ellie trotted happily over to them and demorphed.

<See? I _told_ you they’d listen! >

<You got lucky. That’s all,> Lance snarled.

<Congratulations!> Morton barked from where he was seated.

<Yeah, congratulations!> Penelope repeated, <And there’s more good news: while you were away, we brought you lunch!>

<Aw, thanks! That’s really nice of->

He dropped a dead snake at her feet. She squeaked.

<Oh . . . That looks very, um, scaly . . . Thank you.>

<Don’t mention it!>

They looked at her expectantly. She slowly picked up the snake and dangled it in front of her mouth. It was time to intervene.

<No time for lunch, Sattler!> the scarred raptor said, snatching the snake away, <We don’t want to get behind schedule.>

They sent Bucky and Kipper (it was odd to finally have something to call them) back to the camp with the gallies. Three randomly-selected gallimimus joined the herd, which now consisted of three velociraptors (Otto had taken the compys and bambies back to the valley), two herrerasaurus, five compsognathus, a bambiraptor, and a very crazy woman. It was the strangest pack imaginable, unlike anything the theropods had ever seen. With any luck, the scientists would be just as surprised.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“And finally, I was able to take down her legion of incisors with the magical floss-whip of Pepsodent,” Alan said grandly as the raptor gaped in admiration.

The two of them had decided to traverse the plains by climbing a large bluff. It gave them a good view of the landscape and, by extension, anything that might try to eat them.

“Wow, you’re really brave!” the raptor gushed.

“Not really. I just know how to defend myself,” Alan replied nonchalantly.

“Can you teach me?”

Alan raised his eyebrow.

“What do you need ME for? You’re a raptor.”

“The worst raptor . . .” he mumbled sadly.

“Oh, don’t say that . . .” Alan said gently, crouching down so that they were the same height, “You’re just learning. I’ll bet that when you grow up, you’ll be the greatest raptor since the Cretaceous Period.”

“Tell that to my brothers. They think I’m a runt. I guess they’re kinda right . . .”

Alan sighed.

“You’re not a runt . . .”

“I am.”

Alan stood up.

“Have you ever heard of Wilbur?”

“Wilbur?”

“The pig from Charlotte’s Web. I guess you don’t read books . . .”

“I read a little.”

Alan raised his eyebrows.

“That’s impressive. Well, I’ll have to lend it to you sometime. It was Ellie’s favorite book when she was little. She even-”

Alan broke off. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to tell the raptor _everything ._ . .

“She _what_?”

Alan shook his head.

“Nothing.”

The raptor hopped onto his shoulders.

“Tell me. Please.”

Alan sighed and rubbed his brow. He may as well tell him, now that he had painted himself into a corner.

“Well, we agreed that if we were to ever have a daughter, she’d be named Charlotte.”

“What if you had a son instead?”

“Oh, I don’t know. What’s the male equivalent? . . . Charles? . . . Charlie?”

The raptor considered this, rubbing his chin with a claw.

“Hm . . . Charlie . . . Charlie . . . I like the sound of that. Can I use it?”

“For what?” Alan asked.

“For myself.”

“As your name? . . .” he wondered.

“Yeah.”

It was strange; Alan had assumed that the implied lack of naming among raptors was due to some innate dislike for the entire concept. Interesting . . .

“Sure, why not?” Alan said brightly, “I think it suits you just fine.”

“Really?”

Suddenly, a loud squawking came from below. A gallimimus was causing quite a commotion in the grassy field, much to the confusion of its flock.

“What’s he saying?” Alan asked idly. Charlie cocked his head and listened closely.

“It’s hard to tell: galli dialect is pretty foreign. It’s not a male voice, though, I can tell you that much . . .”

Suddenly, the entire flock erupted into a grating symphony of squeals. Alan cringed.

“Their voices aren’t exactly angelic, are they?”

Charlie laughed.

“No, it’s more like _indigestion_!”

After a moment of contemplation, Alan turned.

“Well, whatever it is, it doesn’t concern us. Let’s keep moving.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Henry Wu sat quietly at his desk. He had been feeling very contemplative as of late, and he was in dire need of absolute silence. He picked up his scepter and ran his fingers along the ridge of the fossilized claw. With Malcolm out of the way, there was no one left to oppose him. Still, he was troubled by the absence of Sattler’s body. His team had searched the entire coastline, and there was _still_ no sign of her. Regardless, if she had somehow survived, there was little to no chance that she’d make it out of The North in one piece. Still, better safe than sorry . . .

Turning to the window behind him, Wu stared down at the workers in the massive, round, glowing chamber. They were clustered around the crescent-shaped portion of The Machine, fiddling with all sorts of buttons and knobs. In its current state, the device wasn’t properly calibrated. If he intended to use it within the next week, everything needed to be perfect.

“Dr. Wu!” 

A mechanic burst through the door. Wu’s first thought was that something had gone wrong with the repairs. He stood up and listened to the frazzled employee.

“The infant has escaped its confinement!”

“Impossible! He was tethered!” Wu hissed.

“He must have broken his collar.”

“But how-”

Grant. Of course.

Wu growled. If his technicians had used the manganese-titanium guillotine like the alternate InGen, this would have _never_ happened. They had peeked through dimensional windows for a _reason_ . . .

“Sir? What are we to do?”

Wu’s fist tightened around the metal staff. 

“Find the child. Bring him back. Alive. If anyone gets in your way, _kill them_.”


	18. Venom

Venom

There was a time, many years ago, when Ellie would have given _anything_ to see a live dilophosaurus. Now, thinking back to the original tour, she was glad that she hadn’t been in range of their venom. 

The pack hadn’t seen a single dilophosaur yet, but they were definitely in the right territory. Gobs of putrid slime dripped down from branches and ferns, splattering messily onto the ground in large plops. The group avoided these grey land-mines, as physical contact would almost certainly be fatal. 

Well, except for Ellie.

Although she had been inoculated, the smell alone was enough to drive her away from the toxic goo. The aroma was reminiscent of skunk, gasoline, formaldehyde, play-doh, sewage, blood, and acid. If this was how bad it smelled to _her_ , Ellie couldn’t imagine how the raptors were holding up. She didn’t have to wonder for long, however . . .

<Urk! This stuff is _rotten_! > Lance choked.

<You said it . . .> Morton gagged.

<You’d better roll around in it for a bit, Morty,> Penelope laughed, <It’d be an improvement . . .>

<Quiet, you!>

Ellie wasn’t paying attention to their antics. This part of the forest was kind of eerie . . .

<Wait here. I’m going to check this place out,> she ordered. The raptors nodded and sat down on a log.

Ellie pushed a flowery plant (lobsterclaw) aside and stepped carefully around the sticky puddles. She held her breath as she tiptoed forward, trudging through the jungle like an old-timey explorer. All she needed was a safari hat. And a map. And a mustache.

The pack was out of sight now, and it was hard to hear their anxious whispering. Where were all the dilos? Maybe they weren’t home . . .

<EEEEEE-woo-woo-woo!>

Ellie froze. The hooting was coming from behind her. She turned around slowly. A short dinosaur with two crests on its head was standing innocently in the clearing.

<Hello, there . . .> she said pleasantly.

The dinosaur cocked its head. Maybe she should try a different dialect. Ellie focused on a compsognathid tone.

<Where did you come from?> 

The dilophosaurus continued to stare at her. Gallimimus dialect might work . . .

<I’m here to contact your pack. Are they around? . . .>

He hooted playfully and sat down. Ellie copied his gesture, hoping to connect with him somehow. When she was seated, he stood up. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to adopt a submissive posture . . .

<RRRAAAHHH!>

The dilophosaur’s neck blossomed into a bright orange frill. Ellie jumped back.

_HORK-SPLAT!_

A pile of goo landed at her feet. This was bad. _Very_ bad.

Before he could reload, Ellie grabbed a rock and threw it at his face. It hit him right between his crests. He squealed and ran into the bushes.

<Yeah, that’s right: you’d _better_ run!>

Suddenly, a glob of saliva dripped onto Ellie’s shoulder. She rubbed it between her fingers. It was definitely from a dilo, but where-

<RRRAAAHHH!>

Ellie looked up and screamed.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

<I know everyone LIKES meat, but I’m just saying, it goes a little deeper for me . . .> Morton philosophized. 

The scarred raptor snuffed with irritation. If she had to spend one more minute listening to these imbeciles, she would claw her eyeballs out of their sockets.

<Maybe we’d better go after her . . .> Crusher suggested.

<No, we must wait,> the scarred raptor said, holding him back, <It is not safe.>

Lance snorted.

<Pheh! She’s probably trying to escape. She thinks she’s too good for us . . .>

<Shut up, Lance!> Crusher hissed, <One more word, and I’ll tear out your gizzard!>

<Shush!> the scarred raptor whispered, <You’re _both_ getting on my nerves! >

<Yeah, you two’s don’t know what you’s talking about!> Morton added, <Ellie wouldn’t _leave_ us!>

<Stay out of this!> Lance hissed.

<Ey, you mess with Ellie, you mess with us!> Morton barked.

<Fine talk, coming from an overgrown strawberry!> Lance snarled.

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream came from the jungle. Shortly after, Ellie burst out of the foliage and ran past them.

<THEY’RE IN THE TREES! THEY’RE IN THE TREES! RUN, RUN, RUN!>

A shower of grey globs rained down from the sky. Lance whimpered. Heeding her advice, the pack darted away in fear. 

<Now, see what you’ve done? We’re _dead_! > Lance shrieked.

Ellie morphed into a herrerasaurus to gain momentum.

<It’s not my fault! He _spat_ at me!>

The gallies, obviously not used to running in small groups, squealed with confusion. The scarred raptor pushed them forward one by one. Soon, they were being pursued by an army of shivering chrysanthemums. The dilos unveiled their frills in canon, spitting all the while.

The group came to a tattered rope bridge. They bounded across in single file, teetering as the structure swayed beneath them. When they were all across, Ellie chomped down on each support, letting the bridge crash down into the precipice below. The dilos screeched to a halt on the other side, nearly falling over the edge.

<Haha! Take _that_ , you snotty skunks!> Lance taunted.

The head dilo stepped backwards. Instead of leaving, however, he took a running jump at the canyon. As he fell, he sprouted bat-like frills along his arms and legs, causing him to glide through the air with ease. Soon, the others followed his lead.

<Eep.>

The group fled once more. When they were a dozen yards away from the canyon, the scarred raptor noticed that Ellie hadn’t moved an inch.

<Ellie, run!>

She didn’t budge.

<I’m immune to their venom. Get the others to safety.>

<Are you _crazy_?! You’ll die! >

<I have a better chance than you. Now, go!>

Reluctantly, the scarred raptor turned and pushed the others deeper into the jungle. They piled under a rocky overhang to hide. When they were all settled, the compys and the single bambi dismounted the gallies, who had been carrying them on their backs. Penelope looked from left to right worriedly.

<Where’s Ellie?> he whispered.

<She . . . She stayed behind to distract them,> the scared raptor said sadly.

<WHAT?! We have to save her!> he shrieked.

<No, it’s too late!> Morton whimpered, <Listen . . .>

The group cocked their heads to hear better. The pattering of dilo feet was dissipating.

_HORK-SPLAT!_

The noise was repulsive. No one _dared_ think of the implications.

_HORK-SPLAT, HORK-SPLAT!_

The dilos hooted with confusion. They must be wondering why Ellie wasn’t dying . . .

<Heehee . . . Heeheehee . . .> 

For some reason, Ellie was starting to laugh giddily. She giggled and snorted.

It didn’t _sound_ like she was being eaten . . .

<What’s going on?> Crusher whispered.

<I’m gonna go check it out . . .> Lance said quickly.

<Get back here!> the scarred raptor hissed.

Too late. He was already over the hill.

<Hey guys, come see this!>

The gang peeked out gradually and joined him where he stood. The dilos were standing in a circle around Ellie, who was giggling stupidly. She rolled around in the grey spit-puddle, gurgling and laughing. She waved her arms back and forth in the sludge.

<Heh. I’m making a mud-angel!>

<I think something’s wrong with her . . .> Lance said redundantly.

The dilos watched Ellie’s breakdown with a deep fascination. One particularly bold individual prodded her with his snout.

<Ooh! You look just like a FLOWER!> she slurred, <C’mere, you big carnation!>

She waggled her arms in the air in an attempt to grab him, but let them flop to her side woozily.

<What in _carnation_. . . >

She laughed at her own joke with a disjointed chortle. It sounded like she was trying to cough up a hairball. The dilos looked simultaneously amused and worried.

<Y’er such purdy aminals . . . anmamnals . . . manimals . . .> 

The group approached Ellie cautiously. The dilos parted to make room for them.

<Hey, guyzzzzzz . . .> she drawled, standing unsteadily on her feet, <Have you seen theezzz thingzzz? They’re all poofy! Ha! Haha! Y’know, I think you’re all pretty good friends . . .>

She lumbered towards the group with her arms open, preparing to hug them. She stopped a few feet in front of the scarred raptor, closing her arms around thin air and falling flat on her face. She lay still for a few seconds.

Morton stepped forward.

<Hey, Ellie . . . Y’alright?>

A muffled giggle came from where her face was buried in the dirt.

<You can have her . . .> the lead dilo grumbled.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After careful consideration, the dilophosaurs decided to join the rebellion. Apparently, Ellie’s antics were too good to miss. They formed a living stretcher to carry her back to the camp, as no one else could touch her without going blind. It was decided that the best plan of action was to go straight home, though they hadn’t met their recruitment quota. They needed to get Ellie clean before supper, and besides, it was getting late.

The scarred raptor listened to Ellie ramble. She still wasn’t making any sense, especially since she had switched to English halfway through her babbling. Only the three raptors understood her at this point, being the most intelligent creatures in the vicinity.

“Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, everything that’s wonderful is what I feel when we’re together . . .”

<What on earth is she doing?> Lance shrieked, covering his ears.

<I think she’s trying to sing . . .> Crusher suggested.

“Brighter than a lucky penny- Agh!”

She jolted a little.

<Ellie, are you okay?> the scarred raptor asked.

“What are YOU doing here?”

<I never left . . .> she replied with confusion.

“I thought my spirit journey was over . . .”

Ah. She was talking to herself.

“What do you mean? I’m helping them, aren’t I?”

<She talking ‘bout us?> Crusher asked.

“I dunno. Empathy?”

She paused.

“That’s crazy! What could I possibly gain by staying here?”

<Ah-ha! I knew it: she’s leaving us!> Lance declared victoriously.

“This isn’t _about_ me. Why do you have to make everything so personal?”

<Don’t be so sure . . .> Crusher said, smirking at Lance.

“Can’t I just help them? Not everything is a spiritual quest, you know . . .”

This pause lasted longer than the others.

“Bullshit. There are no ulterior motives. None. I’m helping them out of kindness, that’s all . . .”

<Ellie? . . .>

Suddenly, her voice grew loud and indignant.

“ _Could_ have run? _COULD_ HAVE RUN? Where would I _go_? How long would it take for them to track me down? And haven’t you been paying attention? I’m here by _choice_. Because I’m trying to be a good person.”

She scoffed at her invisible partner-in-conversation.

“So what? I couldn’t just _leave_ them there. Logically, I don’t _have_ to do anything. Doesn’t mean I _won’t_.”

They were getting close to camp. The scarred raptor could see the familiar stream snaking through the jungle.

“Well, why is anyone kind? Out of-”

“That is _not_ what I was going to say.”

Another pause.

“You’ve already-”

“Stop it!”

“Just stop! I don’t have to answer!”

“Leave me alone, leave me ALONE!” 

It looked like she was on the verge of tears.

“NO! NONONONONO!”

The dilos shifted uncomfortably as she thrashed about. Finally, she stopped.

“Because it felt _RIGHT_ , okay? Are you happy now? Are you happy, you _FILTHY REPTILE_?”

<Okay, boys. I think we should drop her off here . . .> the scarred raptor said to the dilos. Unfortunately, they interpreted her words as “drop her in the river”.

“I oughta fry you up and serve you with-”

SPLASH!

Ellie resurfaced, gasping loudly.

“COLD! IT’S VERY COLD!”

<Someone grab her before she drowns!> the scarred raptor ordered.

<No . . . No, I’m alright . . .> Ellie said through chattering teeth.

<If you say so . . .> 

She climbed onto the riverbank, her grimy clothes sagging from the weight of the water. She wrung out her shirt, only to find that it was covered in venom. She sighed and sat down on a fallen log.

<We can get you a change of clothes, if you’d like . . .> the scarred raptor offered.

<Thanks . . .>

Lance slid down beside them.

<So what was all of that yattering about?> he asked brusquely. Ellie’s eyes went wide.

<That was _out loud_? >

The scarred raptor pushed him aside.

<We heard you mumbling, but we couldn’t really make out what you were saying . . .>

She kicked Lance before he could respond.

<Oh . . . Alright . . .> Ellie said with a hint of relief.

<So!> the scarred raptor said brightly, <Let’s go home!>

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Alan stared down at the broken bridge and sighed. This was going to take longer than he thought . . .

“Hey, Alan! Come look at this!”

Charlie was standing near a grey puddle. He sniffed the air and crinkled his snout.

“Ewww . . . This stuff is _nasty_!”

“Stay away from that. It looks dangerous . . .” Alan warned him.

While scanning the ground, Alan noticed that there were some very bizarre tracks in the dirt. They ranged from tiny to fairly large, and they were scattered all over the place. Comparing Charlie’s tracks to some of the larger ones, Alan decided that most of the prints belonged to raptors.

“I think your pack might have come this way.” 

“Really? How can you tell?”

“These footprints belong to a velociraptor. See?”

It was strange: on the other side of the canyon, the grey stuff seemed to be spattered in a circle. There were a couple of stray globs, but most of it seemed to be aimed at one particular spot. Leading away from the largest puddle were some unfamiliar tracks. They certainly didn’t belong to any dinosaur Alan knew and, were it not for the random and smudged nature of them, he might wonder whether they belonged to something humanoid. 

“We’d better keep moving. I have a bad feeling about this place . . .”

“But the bridge is down. How will we cross?”

Alan straightened his hat.

“The canyon doesn’t go on forever. If we head North, we’ll be able to find a place where the river gets narrow.”

“I can’t swim!” Charlie whimpered.

“That’s alright. It might get so shallow that we can wade across.”

Charlie nodded and hopped onto Alan’s shoulders once more. He yawned and draped his head across his clavicle like a saurian necklet.

Soon, he was fast asleep.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

The raptors brought Ellie to a cluttered cavern, which looked like a cross between a treasure trove and a hoarder’s room. 

<This is where we keep the human stuff we find,> Crusher explained.

<See if you can find anything that fits you,> the scarred raptor added.

Ellie looked around. Most of what they had collected consisted of trinkets and trash. There was a broken umbrella, a dozen empty Cokes, a fossilized raptor claw (probably fake), a hideous tie, a crushed can of shaving cream, a pillow, a steering wheel, and a license plate (among other junk).

Ellie stepped through a pile of blue feathers.

<Where did you get these?> she asked.

<A parrot. We use them to mimic,> Lance explained dully.

<To _what_? > 

<You can morph into dinosaurs, we can morph halfway into birds. Figure it out.>

Ellie frowned and continued her search. She picked up a CD and examined it with confusion.

<“Jingle Cats: Meowy Christmas”? Who on earth->

She flipped the disc over. It was labeled “Property of R. Smith”.

<Oh.>

Ellie continued to dig through the trash. Finally, she felt a crinkly sleeve. When she pulled it out, she gasped.

<What is it?> the scarred raptor asked.

<This is my old shirt!>

Sure enough, the salmon-colored shirt was just as she had left it: crumpled up and covered in blood. That was why she had taken it off in the first place: she wasn’t particularly fond of the stain on the shoulder. 

<You gonna take it?> Lance asked.

<Yeah . . . I guess I will.>

Finally, after a thorough search, Ellie picked out a new wardrobe. She wore a red tank-top, a pair of torn jeans, beige sandals, and the infamous pink shirt. When she pulled the shirt over her arms, a haunting sense of familiarity made her shiver. At least it was a good fit . . .

Ellie, Crusher, Lance, and the scarred raptor reunited with the rest of the pack for dinner. The camp was busier than usual, with gallies, compys, bambies, herrers, and dilos marching this way and that. The raptors were displeased by this, especially when a female dilo accidentally poisoned one of their meals. This was remedied, however, when the herrerasaurs brought back a large hadrosaur carcass.

<Hey, Ellie! Over here!> Kipper shouted.

Her raptors were sitting around a dead cow. Thankfully, they had already eaten.

Ellie sat down beside Rocky.

<So, how did your talk with the chieftain go?>

He turned to show her two clawmarks on his lip.

<Oh, no! I’m so sorry . . .>

<It had to be done. She let everyone stay, but she’s very eager to kill you.>

Ellie gulped.

<And she’s gonna supervise us tomorrow,> Buzz added, <Which might hinder our efforts . . .>

<No, it’ll be fine. We’ll figure something out,> Ellie said firmly.

<I assume you’ll be wanting to round up the large carnivores tomorrow?> the scarred raptor hypothesized. Ellie nodded.

<Baryonyx, allosaurus, and T-Rex, if there are any. And maybe Metriacanthosaurs, but only if I can talk to them. I can morph into a baryonyx, and I assume that T-Rex dialect is probably similar to allosaurus. But I need to find a way to electrocute myself . . .>

<Tasers. We have them in the cave. A couple may still work,> the scarred raptor said as she sat down. Ellie bit her lip.

<I can’t wait . . .>

<And I suppose we’re going to let _you_ do all the work? _Again_? > Lance huffed angrily.

<Actually, no. I have a special job for you.>

Lance cocked his head.

<Really?>

<Yeah. You _are_ the fastest runner, after all.>

He smiled proudly.

<I am, aren’t I? You know, this one time, I was being chased by a jeep . . .>

<Here we go,> Crusher sighed.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

As the sun began to set, Charlie woke up. He was definitely recharged after his little nap. Alan regretted letting him sleep for so long. Now he’d be up all night . . .

“Are we there yet?”

“No.”

“How long will it be before we get there?”

“I don’t know.”

“How-”

“Look, if I had to guess, I’d say that we’ll find your pack tonight . . . if we keep moving, that is. Then you can see your mom and your brothers and your dad and-”

“I don’t have a dad.”

“Sorry. Well, you’ll see the rest of your family . . .”

Charlie looked worried. Alan hoped that he hadn’t upset him by mentioning his father.

“Maybe we should take a break,” Charlie squeaked. Alan raised an eyebrow.

“What for? Don’t you want to go home?”

Charlie looked at him with wide, pleading eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Alan asked worriedly.

“I’m scared . . .”

“Why?” 

“Because my mom will be _furious_ when I get back!”

Alan ran his fingers through his hair.

“She might be a _little_ angry, but I bet she’ll be happy to see you . . .”

Charlie shook his head.

“She just wants me back so that I can help her exterminate the humans.”

Alan stopped walking.

“Exterminate? . . .”

“I’m the only raptor who can morph all the way. If I let them through the gate, they’ll kill everyone. My brothers tried to find an alternative . . .”

“Wait, wait, wait. So you’re saying that she wants you to sneak across the fence and-”

“-and let her in, yes.”

“That’s . . . I mean . . .” Alan stammered.

“I don’t want to kill anyone,” Charlie said quietly, “But my mother . . .”

He fell silent. Alan didn’t know what to say. Finally, Charlie hopped off his shoulders.

“I understand if you don’t want to help me anymore.”

Charlie walked away sadly, letting his tail droop to the ground. Alan looked at Mount Sibo, then to the other side of the island. He could see the top of an electric fence, probably miles away. What was he going to do?

Alan sighed. There was a reason why Charlie had asked him to tag along. Assuming that he could morph into a bird at any time, there was really nothing stopping him from simply flying across the island on his own. He was clearly stalling, though Alan hadn’t had the faintest idea why. Now, everything made sense. This child didn’t want to be responsible for the deaths of a hundred people. He wasn’t ready to be a killer.

“Charlie . . .” 

The raptor stopped walking and turned his head. The expression on his face was heartbreaking.

“I won’t be leaving any time soon . . .”

“You won’t?”

“I’ll help you find your way home.”

Charlie ran over and hugged his leg. Alan picked him up and carried him over to the base of a tall tree. They sat down quietly and watched the sky grow dark. Eventually, Charlie curled up by Alan’s side. He sprouted feathers along his back to keep himself warm. It wasn’t a particularly safe place to sleep, so Alan kept watch for most of the night. Still, try as he might, he couldn’t stop himself from drifting off.

Soon, they were both fast asleep.


	19. Reunion

Reunion

When Ellie woke up, she didn’t remember where she was. It took her a second to get her bearings, but she finally realized that she was lying in a pile of raptors. She plucked a bambiraptor off of her face and placed him gently on a sleeping herrerasaur. A gallimimus had woven its neck around her legs, so she moved him too. Finally, she was forced to wake up Morton, as he had been chewing on her foot. He apologized, but went back to sleep.

None of the other raptors were awake, so Ellie decided to nab an early breakfast. She stepped out of the cave and squinted her eyes. The sun was awfully bright. 

<Ellie Sattler.>

She jumped. The chieftain was standing on a rock beside the cavern.

<H-hello . . .>

<Come with me. I have something to show you.>

Ellie was positive that being alone with the chieftain was a bad idea. If the group wasn’t there to witness the conversation, it would be easy for Ellie to have a little “accident” while they were away. All in all, she didn’t trust the chieftain. Not one bit.

<I have two days left . . .>

<I’m not going to kill you,> the chieftain said calmly.

<Th->

<. . . today.>

Ellie nodded slowly. 

<Follow.>

She trailed behind the chieftain as she climbed up the valley wall. The striations made it easy to walk diagonally up the cliff, though Ellie became quite nervous when she looked down. They were dreadfully high. A fall from this distance would be fatal.

When they reached the top, the chieftain pointed down at the valley.

<Look down. Tell me what you see.>

Ellie was sick and tired of all of this metaphorical bullshit.

<I see a group of dinosaurs working together. Peacefully. Happily,> she said casually.

<And why do you think they are content?> asked the chieftain.

<Because I helped them put their differences aside.>

<Wrong.>

Ellie snorted. The chieftain clearly wanted the upper hand in their conversation, but she wasn’t exactly the “wise” type. Well, two could play at this game . . . 

<If you’re going to say that they’re happy because “they don’t know any better”, then I swear->

Suddenly, the chieftain lunged at Ellie, knocking her over. Before she knew what she was doing, Ellie had kicked the chieftain’s shoulder and rolled over to the side. It took a few seconds before Ellie realized that she was hissing, not like a snake, but like a velociraptor. She stood up quickly, but found that she was unbalanced. Ellie looked down and saw that one of her feet was half-changed into a raptor claw. The chieftain had a gash across her shoulder.

<You think that you are bringing this pack together, but I assure you, you are nothing more than an imposter. They follow you because they sense your misplaced compassion, but they do not realize that you are a sham. You are not a raptor. You will _never_ be a raptor.>

<I’m not TRYING to be a raptor!> Ellie complained.

<You are trying to be a leader. Only a raptor can lead this colony, and you are _not_ a raptor, > the chieftain spat angrily.

In the valley below, the eight raptors were beginning to assemble. They spoke with Morton, who called Penelope over. The herrerasaurs spread out, swiveling their heads from side to side. They were looking for Ellie.

<I’m not trying to be a leader,> Ellie said, staring the chieftain straight in the eyes, <I only want what’s best for my friends.>

<Do not try to govern my people, Ellie Sattler.>

Ellie stepped down from the ledge. 

<So try doing it yourself.>

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Alan was drifting through a state of half-consciousness. He dreamt that he was in the hotel room, then in the jungle, then by the canyon. He thought that he was awake several times, but it couldn’t be real, since he was hearing voices. Charlie shifted by his side. Alan could hear him yawning (apparently, raptors yawned), but there was something else that caught his attention. 

Alan’s eyes fluttered open. He was definitely awake, but he could hear two men talking.

“Someone’s coming!” Charlie whispered.

Alan stood up. They weren’t alone in the jungle. He peeked around the tree trunk. Two men in beige uniforms were trudging through the undergrowth. Charlie tugged on Alan’s pantleg. 

“C’mon, we gotta go. Now!”

Alan crouched down.

“Listen, Charlie, you need to morph into a bird. I think they might be looking for you.”

“I can’t! I’m scared . . .”

“I know you’re scared, but everything is going to be-”

_FWOP!_

A dart with a puffy, pink tailpiece pierced the bark by Alan’s neck.

“RUN!”

The uniformed men gave chase, shooting tranquilizer darts at their quarry. Alan and Charlie sped along the side of the canyon, kicking up sand and dirt as they ran. It wasn’t a very formidable chase, as their pursuers were forced to waddle in their baggy clothing. When they were out of the men’s field of vision, Alan grabbed Charlie and hoisted him up into a tree with dense foliage. They climbed higher and higher until they were out of sight. They panted softly and watched the men run past. 

“I think they’re gone . . .” Alan whispered, “But we’d better wait-”

He swayed from side to side. All of that running must have made him dizzy . . .

“Oh, no!”

Charlie pointed to Alan’s heel. A tuft of pink plastic was sticking out of his sock.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

<Anyway, Bucky got honey _all_ over his face, and the bees weren’t too happy . . .> Kipper laughed.

<Darn right! They stung me all over the place.>

<Hey, remember when you tried to catch that cuttlefish?> Crusher chuckled.

<How can I forget?> 

<He stuck his head in a coral crevice!> Crusher said to Ellie, <It was a very bad idea: a crab pinched his nostril!>

Ellie smiled. Despite the looming presence of the chieftain, everything was hunky-dory in the pack. They had decided that it would have to be a raptors-only mission (mostly due to their new supervisor), but it was easier to travel in small numbers, anyway. Bucky seemed to enjoy telling stories about the colorful predicaments he got himself into. Apparently, he was infamous among the raptors, and with good reason. They all knew stories about him, and they enjoyed recounting these anecdotes to a fresh audience (i.e. Ellie). Aside from Rocky, Buzz, and the scarred raptor, no one seemed to mind the chieftain’s presence. Well, maybe Otto did, but they wouldn’t have been able to tell either way.

<C’mon, you guys! Ellie is _sick_ of your stories! She wants to hear about _me_! > Lance said with an oily grin.

Somehow, Lance had slipped out of his temporary feud with Ellie. She suspected that it had something to do with her inclusion of him as a key member in their recruitment mission. He certainly had a hungry ego . . .

Without warning, Lance sprouted feathers and flapped into a nearby tree.

<Shit!> Ellie gasped.

<Pretty impressive, huh? You’ll never guess how I found the falcon that gave me this ability . . .>

<He climbed a mountain: end of story,> Bucky babbled.

<It was a _big_ mountain . . . >

<It’s not _nearly_ as impressive as my kingfisher story . . . > Kipper laughed.

<Do you only have one morph per raptor, then?> Ellie asked.

<Naw, but we like to pick a special morph for bragging rights. Bucky’s is a chicken->

<ROOSTER!>

<Bucky’s is a rooster, Otto’s is a raven, and Crusher’s is a swan.>

<A swan? As in, the _graceful_ waterfowl?> Ellie laughed.

<Swans are scary . . .> Crusher retorted defensively.

<I guess you can speak English, then, with those parrot feathers I saw earlier . . .>

<Yeah. But _our_ language is easier,> Crusher mumbled.

<We should have brought some along. It might be useful to have English-speaking recruits,> Ellie said.

<They’d have to learn it first. We can’t _all_ catch exotic diseases, > the chieftain said pointedly. Ellie turned around and glared at her.

<And I suppose you’ve never tried _using_ your linguistic skills to solve all of these political problems? > Ellie hissed.

<Humans don’t listen.>

<Some do.>

<Look! Is that a Paltry Tyrannulet?> Kipper yapped.

The group scanned the trees, but saw nothing.

<My mistake.>

They marched on, ignoring Kipper’s comment. When she was sure that the chieftain wasn’t looking, Ellie rubbed up against his side in thanks.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“Alan! Alan, wake up!”

Charlie sniffled. Alan was very much unconscious, and his breathing was getting shallow . . .

“This is all my fault! I should have flown away when I had the chance . . .”

Alan didn’t answer. Charlie had plucked the syringe out of his heel, but the damage was done. It had been over a half an hour since Alan had lost consciousness. This was looking bad . . .

“Come on . . . get up! Please . . .”

He nuzzled Alan’s hand, which fell limply off the branch. Charlie didn’t want Alan to fall out of the tree, but if he slumped over any further, there would be no way to hold him straight.

“Please, don’t die . . .”

Alan twitched a little. Charlie was worried that he might already be dead, but he started breathing more steadily. After a few seconds, Alan opened his eyes. 

“You’re okay!” Charlie bubbled, hugging him tightly around the neck.

“Mph! Yeah, I’m fine . . .” Alan drawled, “But they’ll be after us soon . . .”

Charlie watched as he tried to climb down from the tree. He teetered back and forth, swaying woozily. His foot slipped on a mossy branch. Charlie dove down, sprouting feathers as he fell. He hooked his claws through Alan’s shirt and flapped his wings furiously. This lessened the fall.

“Thanks . . .”

Alan held onto the tree trunk to steady himself as he got up. Charlie pushed his legs to keep him from toppling over. It was scary to see him so dazed. Being lethargic after waking up was one thing, but this was completely out of control.

“THERE THEY ARE!”

Charlie yelped. The ecru-suited men were back, and they still had their tranquilizer guns. If Alan got hit again, he would die for sure . . .

Charlie grabbed Alan’s shoulders once more and took off. He dragged him through the sand, letting his feet kick uselessly against the ground. He was awfully heavy. Alan tried to put more weight into his legs, but he was too drowsy. Finally, they came to the edge of the cliff.

“Charlie . . .”

“They’re coming!”

“Fly away. I’ll be fine . . .”

A dart whizzed past Charlie’s leg.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You have no choice.”

Charlie looked over the edge of the cliff. The river was churning vigorously.

“I’m sorry, Alan,” he whimpered.

“Don’t be. You need to s-”

“Hold your breath!”

Charlie pulled him over the cliff. They tumbled through the air like a couple of shot-down war planes.

“I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE!” Alan screamed.

Before Charlie could answer, they plunged into the frothing rapids.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

< . . . eventually had to eviscerate him with his own claws. It was SOOOOOO gory!> Crusher reflected. Ellie scrunched up her nose.

<Yuck.>

<I know, right? But that’s _nothing_ compared to my parasaurolophus story . . . >

<Oh, hush! Can’t someone _else_ have a turn?> Kipper said with aggravation, <We _all_ have stories . . .>

Ellie stopped dead in her tracks. 

<Does anyone else hear that?>

They cocked their heads.

<What, the river?> Crusher asked.

<No . . . It sounds like screaming . . .>

A muffled cry came from the distance.

<Wait a minute . . . I know that voice . . .>

The chieftain pushed forward. 

<Don’t get distracted. If you want to waste the last two days of your life, fine, but don’t force us to go along with you on some pointless detour.>

The scream came again.

<Alan? . . . ALAN!>

Before anyone could hold her back, Ellie darted through the jungle. The raptors followed close behind her, but she had suddenly developed superhuman speed. 

<Ellie, WAIT!> Rocky shouted.

She stopped at the edge of a river. Someone was speeding down the rapids.

<ALAN!>

Without thinking, Ellie jumped straight in. She was quickly overwhelmed by the current, which sent her reeling downriver. All she could do was thrash around and panic.

<We have to save her!> Crusher yelped.

<No! It’s too late. We’ll find whatever’s left of her downriver,> the chieftain ordered. The gang backed down, but reluctantly. They watched helplessly as she was carried away by the raging rapids.

Ellie tried to steady herself, but she kept bumping into boulders. Each time this happened, she would find herself spinning through the water like a greased dreidel. Once or twice, her sandals got caught on the bottom of the river, pulling her underwater. 

When she resurfaced for the third or fourth time, Ellie felt something digging into her shoulders. A baby raptor was clinging to her back like a monkey. He sputtered and coughed in her face.

<Who->

Alan drifted past. Ellie grabbed him and held him close. He was unconscious, but he didn’t look dead. The three of them spun around chaotically, each trying to hold onto each other for protection. 

Gradually, the river began to grow calm. As soon as it was possible to move freely, Ellie headed for the riverbank. She dragged Alan ashore, laid him flat on his back, and tried to resuscitate him. The raptor watched anxiously, his blue feathers dripping with water. Finally, Alan coughed up a spray of water. 

“You’re okay . . .” Ellie whispered, cradling his head in her arms.

When he shook off his dizziness, Alan stared at Ellie for a very long time.

“I died . . . didn’t I?”

Ellie frowned.

“What? No! You’re not dead!”

“Then you’re a GHOST?”

Ellie pulled back her head in surprise.

“Ghost? Why would- First of all, I’d be an angel, and second- Wait . . . You thought I was _dead_? Well, that explains why you didn’t come after me . . .”

The raptor looked from Ellie to Alan. 

“Wait a minute . . . Is this _Ellie_?”

Alan nodded without taking his eyes off of her.

“He must be speaking English,” Ellie surmised, “or you wouldn’t understand him. I guess he has parrot-”

Alan wrapped his arms around Ellie and squeezed her tight.

“Ack! Alan, you’re squishing me . . .”

He didn’t let go. Ellie gave up and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. He held the back of her head (which was still wet from the river) and began to shake a little.

“Alan, are you crying?” Ellie mumbled through his chest.

“Mmm-hm,” he whimpered unsteadily.

“Oh, Alan. You don’t have to worry: we’re alive, we’re safe, we’re together . . .”

“Please don’t ever die again . . .”

Ellie laughed. 

“Well, I’ll have to die someday . . .”

Tomorrow, to be exact.

Ellie pulled away from Alan. He held her hand firmly, not wanting to break contact.

“We have to find the raptors. I’m supposed to be rounding up large theropods for the rebellion-”

Alan’s eyes went wide.

“It’s a long story . . .”

“Hey! We’re looking for the raptors, too!” the baby raptor babbled.

Alan suddenly remembered that they were not alone.

“Oh, right. Ellie, this is Charlie. We were on our way to find his pack-”

“-but we were attacked by a _thousand_ guards!” Charlie finished.

“Something like that . . .” Alan mumbled.

“Well, this is _great_ news!” Charlie beamed, “Now I don’t have to go through with the vulture plan!”

“Vulture plan?” Ellie repeated.

“Yeah. My mom wanted me to morph into a vulture and help the other raptors break into the compound, but it sounds like my brothers finally convinced her to change her mind, though I don’t remember them mentioning large theropods . . .”

“You must be the chieftain’s son!” Ellie gasped, “I’ve met your brothers. We’ve been rounding up all kinds of theropods to infiltrate InGen . . .”

Charlie hopped up and down excitedly.

“Yes! Now I don’t have to be afraid anymore-”

He stopped. 

“I mean . . . I don’t need to follow my mom’s directions. Did she ask about me? Was she worried?”

“She missed you very much,” Ellie lied, “But now you’ll be together . . .”

“Should we go and find them?” Alan asked. Ellie shook her head.

“No . . . I think it’d be best to wait here. We don’t want to get lost again . . .”

“Do they know where to find us?” Alan asked. Ellie shrugged.

“They’re smart. Besides, there’s only so many places a stream could take us . . .”

Alan nodded. 

“Are these raptors-”

He searched for the right words.

“. . . friendly?”

Ellie smiled.

“Most of them.”

“Right. So we’re safe, then?”

“For the moment, yes. I see you’ve made a friend . . .” Ellie said, avoiding the subject.

“Hi!” The raptor yapped.

“Charlie, right? That’s a cute name.”

“Thanks. Alan’s told me all about you!”

Ellie raised an eyebrow.

“Really?”

“Yeah! Is it true that you’re afraid of starfish?”

Alan smiled sheepishly as Ellie shot him a murderous glare.

“He, uh- He wanted to hear the puddle story . . .”

<CRAW! CRAW! CRAW!>

The raptors thundered through the forest. Charlie noticed the chieftain at the helm of the pack. He ran up to her, wagging his tail gleefully.

<Mother, mother! You’ll never guess what happened->

She ran past him. He turned his head in confusion. Rocky picked him up by the scruff of his neck and placed him on his back. Buzz touched his snout against Charlie’s side.

<You tried to leave the pack!> the chieftain hissed at Ellie.

<What? That’s ridiculous! I didn’t->

<Quiet! There is _no_ excuse for what you have done! >

<But I->

<We had a deal. You neglected to hold up _your_ side of the bargain . . .>

The scarred raptor stepped forward.

<Chieftain, she->

<One more word, and I’ll slay you where you stand!>

The scarred raptor fell silent, but glared at her resentfully. The chieftain turned to Ellie.

<As for you . . .>

<Not here! Not now! Bring me back to camp. I promise, if you’ll just bring me to the valley, I’ll let you do whatever you want. Please. Bring me home.>

The chieftain considered this.

<Very well. You will serve as an example. No one will ever cross me again . . .>

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ellie refused to explain her situation to Alan. How could she, after all they had been through? She couldn’t let him cause a scene, or the chieftain would kill them both.

Poor Alan. He’d be heartbroken if he knew that he was about to lose her again.

As they filed into the valley, the group was met with confused stares. Although they had spent the entire day away from the base, they hadn’t returned with any large carnivores. Something was clearly wrong.

As Ellie glided past Morton and Penelope, she tried to put on a brave face. They didn’t fall for it.

<Ellie, why->

<Everything is going to be okay. Just . . . Just don’t intervene, whatever happens.>

<Ellie! . . .>

She ignored them and kept walking.

Finally, the chieftain stood upon the overturned boulder and stared down at Ellie. The colony had formed a wide ring around them. They could sense that something terrible was about to happen.

The setting sun lit up the sky with an ominous glow, bathing the valley in blood-red light. Everyone fell silent.

“Alan, take Charlie to the caves,” Ellie said calmly as she stared at the chieftain.

“But why-”

“If you love me, you will do as I say.”

Alan was deeply affected by her brash words, but dared not argue. He escorted Charlie to the sleeping-cave, watching Ellie over his shoulder. When they were out of sight, Ellie turned to the chieftain.

<I hope you’re happy. You’ve singlehandedly crushed the last, _best_ effort to resolve your problems peacefully. >

<Your plan was destined to fail,> the chieftain hissed.

<No . . . No, it was _you_ who decided to ignore your only hope. You’ve doomed us all. >

<Us? There _is_ no “us”! > the chieftain spat, <You are a _human_. You are _not_ our kind. You don’t _belong_ here. No _human_ deserves to be in the presence of raptors! By trying to unite us, you have only tarnished our name- >

<And what name is _that_? How can a species hold themselves to any standard if they won’t even listen to reason? The vision you choose to pursue is not one of nobility. You kill in cold blood, you quarrel amongst yourselves, and you even go so far as to throw your youngest son into a dangerous situation for your personal gain. That is not nobility: that is barbarianism! >

<We do what we must to survive. If you had your way, we’d be at the mercy of our enemies. That is _not_ what it means to be a raptor.>

<I know. But this isn’t about being a raptor. It’s about being a good person.>

<Humans are not _good_! They kill, they maim, they injure- >

<YOU kill! YOU maim! YOU injure! Don’t you see? If you can’t find a reason to be better than the humans, then you’re fighting for nothing!>

<We fight for our kind!>

<Why? Why bother, when you share no connection. I do not fight for my kind. I fight for everyone: humans, velociraptors, herrerasaurs, gallimimus, dilophosaurs, bambiraptors . . . They are not like me, yet I fight for them with all of my heart. I don’t fight for my species. I fight for my _friends_! >

Finally, the chieftain could take it no more. She screamed and launched herself off of the rock. Ellie ducked out of the way, but the chieftain kept coming. She pushed Ellie to the ground. Ellie rolled over and grabbed her jaws as she snapped at her throat. The chieftain yowled as she was flipped onto her side. Ellie stood up. The chieftain righted herself, hissing at Ellie. She pounced, extending her left leg in front of her. The sickle-shaped claw caught Ellie’s wrist. It sliced downwards. Ellie’s other hand flew up to the cut. A stream of blood gushed through her fingers, dripping all the way down to her elbow. As Ellie lost consciousness, she heard a loud shriek and saw a flurry of blue. Then, everything went black.


	20. Leader

Leader

Ellie awoke in the early morning. She could see the last few stars peeking over the valley walls, twinkling through the clouds like silver fireflies. They danced lightly across her field of vision, spinning gently as she grew dizzy. Her arm was still throbbing, but it wasn’t bleeding anymore.

“Ellie . . .”

“Alan? Alan, what’s going on?”

“Shhh. Don’t move. You lost a lot of blood.”

Ellie turned her head. Morton and Penelope were standing by her side.

<You’re crazy, you know,> Morton said reprimandingly, <You should have let us intervene. I tell ya, I’d shred that chieftain into ribbons . . .>

<What happened to her? Is she still trying to kill me?>

<You bet she is,> Penelope interjected, <But your raptor friends won’t let her near you. Not that she’s in any state to fight . . .>

<What do you mean?> Ellie asked, holding her head to ease her migraine. Morton and Penelope exchanged a look.

<When the chieftain sliced your arm, the kid went nuts . . .>

Ellie frowned.

<What kid? Charlie?>

<Yeah, that’s the one. Boy, he sure did a number on her. Talk about your family issues!>

“Alan, is he telling the truth?” Ellie asked frantically.

“About?”

“Charlie.”

Alan nodded.

“He attacked the chieftain. She won’t let us see him . . .”

“Oh, Alan! I’m so sorry . . .” Ellie sobbed.

“For what? You’re alive . . .”

Ellie shook her head.

“But the chieftain-”

<-won’t harm you,> the scarred raptor said as she stepped into view, <She wants you gone as soon as possible. You seem to be sparking dissidence among her people.>

<Gone?> Ellie wondered, <As in . . .>

<Yes. You are free to leave the island. If you head to the North Dock, you can hotwire a boat. You’ll be on the mainland in no time.>

<Just like that?>

<Just like that.>

Ellie sat up.

“Alan, she says-”

“That we’re free to leave? Yeah, I heard.”

“So . . . I guess we’ll be going soon.”

“Yeah. Are you okay to walk?” Alan asked gently.

“I think so.”

The herrerasaurs stepped forward and rubbed against Ellie’s shoulders.

<We’re going to miss you . . .> Penelope sighed. Ellie hugged their snouts. 

<I know. Me too.>

Alan and the scarred raptor helped Ellie to her feet. They walked slowly through the camp, taking it all in for the last time. Ellie’s raptors were sitting at the mouth of a small cave. Obviously, Charlie and the chieftain were inside. When they saw Ellie limping by, they ran over.

<Ellie! You’re okay!> Buzz cheered.

<You were so brave! _I_ couldn’t have stood up to the chieftain like you did, and she’s my _mother_! > Rocky added. Ellie hugged each of them.

<Thank you for watching over me,> she whispered.

<No problem,> Buzz said nonchalantly, <That’s what friends are for.>

Ellie smiled. Kipper shuffled up to her.

<It won’t be the same around here without you, Ellie . . .> he said softly.

<Yeah, now I have to find someone else to brag to!> Lance wailed.

<Me too . . .> Crusher said dismally.

<Oh, shucks!> Bucky yapped, <We’re _all_ gonna miss her.>

Otto just stared at Ellie, but she sensed that he was probably thinking the same thing.

She hugged each raptor in sequence. They seemed really torn up about her departure. It was kind of touching . . .

Finally, the scarred raptor stepped forward. She said nothing, but rubbed up against Ellie’s side. With a side smile, Ellie returned the gesture.

Alan cleared his throat.

“I guess we should get going . . .”

Ellie nodded. She gave the raptors one last wave, then followed Alan toward the valley wall. Buzz, Rocky, and the scarred raptor escorted them to the edge. Before they began to climb, Alan unfastened his watch and gave it to the scarred raptor.

“Look, if you see Charlie, can you give this to him? He’ll know what it means . . .”

The raptor took it gently in her mouth and nodded.

<Goodbye . . .> Ellie said quietly.

Because the raptor’s mouth was full, all she could do was wink.

When they reached the top of the cliff, Alan and Ellie gazed at the dinosaurs below. The non-raptors hadn’t yet evacuated, but it was clear that they were preparing to leave. As they joined their respective packs, certain individuals shared a sad farewell with their newfound friends. It was amazing to see such camaraderie among carnivores.

“Well, I guess this is _it_. . .” Ellie sighed.

“Yeah . . .” Alan hummed dismally.

Neither of them turned around.

“Alan . . .”

Suddenly, a piercing shriek came from the caverns. A blue macaw flapped out of the chieftain’s cave. He was carrying a shiny object in his talons. 

“Charlie!” Alan gasped.

The bird flew over the opposite side of the canyon. The chieftain ran after him, but she was limping badly. Soon, Charlie was only a blue speck against the sky.

After a moment of silence, the chieftain looked up at Alan and Ellie with a burning hatred. 

<Get out!>

Ellie flinched.

< _GET OUT_! >

They scrambled away from the ledge and sprinted through the jungle.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“Mrrrrrrrrrowrrr!”

No one was around to hear Orange’s yowling in the deserted laboratory. It was still early in the morning, and most of the scientists were either asleep or out on patrol. Because of this, all of the lamps in Dr. Richthofen’s lab had been turned off hours ago. The only light came from the open doorway, where Orange was pacing grumpily. He hadn’t been fed for a long time, and he was sick of catching wild rats and mice. 

The cat’s gurgling echoed through the empty chamber. He howled like a drunken ghost, kneading the ground with his fluffy paws. Finally, he became fed up with the lack of attention. Hopping onto a metal tray, Orange batted at a roll of silver utensils, spilling them all over the floor. He pounced on a ragged leather strap and nibbled at the torn edges.

This feline vandalism continued for several minutes, until a deep rumbling came from the other side of the room. Orange pulled his claws out of the wall and looked around. He wasn’t alone.

<Rrrrrrrrr . . .>

The sound wasn’t coming from a human: _that_ was for sure.

In his simple, cat-like way, Orange wondered whether the unseen animal could be friendly and, more importantly, whether or not he had any food to share. He trotted across the lab to greet the growling occupant.

The rumble came again, louder this time. 

Orange stepped forward with a cautious curiosity, sniffing the air in order to identify the mysterious creature. The animal seemed to be lying in an unlit corner. Orange meowed to get its attention. As the beast stood up, something metallic scraped across the floor. The shadowy figure was bolted to the wall with a heavy chain, which hooked into a sturdy collar around its neck.

Orange stepped closer. The creature opened its eyes.

Whereas most animals appear to have glowing retinas when light is shone upon their tapetum lucidum, this particular creature was undoubtedly producing its own aura. Its eyes were a fiery coral color, with streaks of yellow around the pupil, which was thin and slit-shaped. 

Orange stood very still. In the darkness, he could just barely see a crest of thick quills traversing the animal’s head and back. It was clearly a dinosaur, but it was too big to be a velociraptor, despite the hooked claws on its feet. It was a fearsome sight. The quills bristled menacingly as the creature growled. 

Without warning, the dinosaur lunged at Orange, who bounded out of the lab like a bolt of cheese-colored lightning. The creature snarled with frustration, tugging fiercely at his chain and barking through the open door. Orange squealed as he scuttled through the compound. He scrambled up a plastic tree and hid in the branches.

This creature was definitely _NOT_ friendly.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ellie and Alan had been walking for a _very_ long time. Truth be told, they didn’t exactly know where the North Dock was, in fact, they didn’t even know which way was North.

“Alan, I think we’re lost.”

He nodded.

“Yup.”

“Maybe we should have picked a direction.”

“I thought you knew where you were going . . .” he hummed.

“Why would _I_ know?” Ellie asked, crossing her arms.

“Well, you’ve been out here longer than _I_ have.”

Ellie rolled her eyes.

“It’d be easier to navigate if there wasn’t so much fog . . .”

Shortly after she said these words out loud, Ellie stopped walking.

“Alan. What are we walking through?”

He frowned.

“Fog. Like you said.”

“No. Not fog. Mist.”

“And?”

Ellie stared at him pointedly.

“And _what_ did Robin tell you about the mist?”

Alan gulped.

“You don’t think . . . You don’t think that this is the _same_ mist, do you?”

“Well, I don’t _know_! How many misty valleys can one island have?”

“It’s called Isla _Nublar_. As in, _cloudy_ island.”

Ellie pushed him halfheartedly.

“Alright, hotshot. Tell me which way-”

Suddenly, the ground disappeared from beneath Ellie’s feet. She tumbled down a ravine, rolling head over heel across the leafy mud. Alan called out to her, but she was already too far for him to see. She slid straight to the bottom, screaming all the way.

“Ellie?!”

She landed with a dull _whump_. Lying on her back, she groaned and spread out her arms.

“I’m fine. I just fell.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Is anything broken?”

“If it was, I’d be screaming,” Ellie said sardonically.

“Fair enough.”

Ellie stood up and brushed herself off.

“Can you get down safely?” she asked.

“Maybe. Where _are_ you?”

“Here!” she shouted.

“That doesn’t help . . .”

“Follow my voice!” she yelled.

“Alright, alright. Keep talking.”

“About what?”

“Anything.”

“Hmmm . . . Let’s see. Nice weather we’ve been having lately. ‘Course, I can’t see much of it through this mist . . .”

Ellie paused.

“Alan?”

No reply.

“ . . . Alan? . . .” she whispered.

Suddenly, two bright, white spheres began to glow in the fog. 

“Hello?”

The lights blinked. Someone was watching her.

Ellie cleared her throat.

<Hello? Are you a dinosaur?>

Another pair of eyes appeared to her left. Then, another to her right. Eventually, the mist was lit up by thousands of glowing eyes.

<I’m lost . . .>

{You are not lost, Ellie Sattler . . .}

The voices seemed to belong to several individuals, yet they spoke with an eerie unity.

Ellie stepped backwards.

<Who _are_ you? . . . >

{We are the Troödon. We are the guardians of this island.}

<What? Why?>

{We have reached a higher level of consciousness.}

<Okay . . .> Ellie said slowly.

{Do not be afraid, Ellie Sattler. All will be well.}

<Are you going to kill me?>

{That is not meant to be. You have not yet completed your task.}

<Are you in cahoots with the mystical pteranodon?> Ellie grumbled.

{Henry Wu is about to open a gateway to another dimension. You must stop him before he destroys the continuity of our world.}

<What? How can I stop him?> Ellie gasped, <I don’t even know what you’re _talking_ about!>

{You had a plan.}

<No . . . my plan was useless. It was destined to fail . . .>

{Wrong.}

<How can you _say_ that?> 

{We know all. We’ve seen what lies in your heart.}

<My heart? MY HEART?! Tell me this, glowy-eyes: how am I supposed to fight off an entire corporation without killing anybody? I’m not a war hero: I’m Ellie Sattler. A paleobotanist can’t take down InGen!>

 

{No. But a raptor can.}

 

Ellie stared at them. The lights began to flicker out, one by one.

 

 

 

A̫̱̤͙͎̮̔ͯ̾̈́͂ͭ̉͢r̘͂͌ͣa͔͙̱͚͒ͨ̽͋̊̌p̣̖̤̈́̒ț͕͖͕̩̺̼́͗͐o̯̘̖ͅŗ̧͖͔ͫ̌͛ͪ̌̽c̃̊̇͊̓a̼̘̣̞̤n̠̼̫̮̳͕̬̂͗̃̚.̠̹͂ͅ

 

 

 

<Wait! Where are you _going_? >  


 

 

Ȳ̺̣̍̈ͬͣ̚o̮͈͓̪͍̠̼̊ͮͯ̈́̅u͈͚̹̦̺̜͉͍̥ͫ̂̔̄͊̂́ͅȁ̢̯͈̩̬̼̃r̛͆̇ͧ̌e̘̹͕̫̍̌̐ͨͣ͂̔̇̇̚n̋͆͝e͔̟͒ͤ̆͋ͮv̟̣̯̯̎̐̑̃̅͆͡e̴̗͚̫͂̒͆̅́r̵ͬ̍̄̀̽͆̎̑̀ă̮̓̽l͓͈̯͓̥̪̮̐ͣͪo̰͈̠͌͑̂̋͌̈́̚n̞̹̰͕̠ͅeͩ̃̑̓̎̒̅̀.̵͓̪͖̍

 

 

 

<Stop! Come back!>

 

 

 

W̧̱ͫ͐͆͛̚h̗̠̥̠͉ͅeͧ̎̽̎ͮ̇͢r̖̟̉ͧ̽̈́̽̚ẹ͖̩̳̰̳̣̉̃̉̕v̯̰̍͊̔̉̅́̀e͓͔͉͕̭̬̠ͨ͋́͊̾̎̑r͚͚͇̩̟̫̮͚͙͚ͩ̓̌̈̊̓̔̾̈́ͮ͊̚y̠̩̺ͮ́ͩȯ̝̲̗̫̀̃̊̆̃̿u̸̙͚̼̩̤ͦͧ̓̇̒ͪm̞͍̮͋̿̚ǎ̢͈̞̤̥͓̠̘ÿ̶̝͍̣̮̙̥͔́͗ẗ̼̹́̐ͤͯ̉̓͂̕r͕̖̔ͪ̂̚ͅè͌͑ͣͧa̳͚̯̹̅̏̋ͬͩ̎̽͞d̾̈́̉ͭ, ̡̙͓̩͓͎͙ͭ̽ͭͤͥͦ́̇̏́̃̈́̒t͙̯̬h̪̄̃͂̅ͤe̴͖ͦͮͭT̮͖̩ͩ̌̽̎̑̏r̯͔͛o̜̯̯̯̻͇̮͗͊͒ö͕̲͙͕̹̔̾̌̋́́d̸̮̝̮̦̖̬̓ͫó͉̼͎̬̱̍ͧ͝n̰͕͙̰͓͚̥̲͚̊͐̋̿̑̓͊͢w̱ͭͩͮ̔̅̃̿͝ị̫ͧ̔ͣ͝l͓̠̭͖̎̉̓̾͗̏̚l̲̲͕̗͙̭̼̬̫̇̄͐̈ͤ́̎̀̎̑̚ͅͅḟ̞͕̝̤͕̯ͫͩ̄̃͞ȯ̰̃̍̀͊͌l͉͔̓͗̉ͤl̓̉ͭõ̼͎̺̽ͮ̈͐͛ͩw͖̭̳̖̭͓͇̏̔͑ͩ.̵͕̰͈̝̦̿̀̿̃

 

 

 

Ellie stared into the mist. After a few seconds, she heard footsteps.

Alan appeared to her right. He sounded out of breath.

“Oh, thank _god_! I thought I’d lost you!”

Ellie took Alan’s hands in her own and stared into his eyes.

“What? What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Plenty of things. But we’re going to fix them.”

Alan gave her a questioning look.

“So, are we still lost? . . .”

“No,” Ellie said, looking at the misty outline of Mount Sibo, “I know _exactly_ where we’re going.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

The scarred raptor chewed idly on a dry femur. The other raptors were lying in a loose circle, silent as statues. Although none of them spoke, there was a general sense of “Now what?” between them. With Charlie gone and Ellie off the island, they had no plan. Even the chieftain, who had been so invested in the revolution, had lost her spark. Something had died inside of her when Charlie left, and she barely had the strength to crawl down from her cave. There was nothing they could do but wait to be exterminated by the scientists.

Lance was lying on his back. He changed his foot into a falcon talon and wiggled it around. The scarred raptor shot him a look, and he rolled onto his stomach.

<We can’t keep going on like this, you know.>

<I know,> she replied.

Crusher slid closer.

<What are we gonna do?> he asked softly.

The scarred raptor turned her neck so that she didn’t have to face them.

<Ask the chieftain.>

The raspy barking of a herrerasaur broke the silence.

<Alright everyone! It’s time to move out!> Morton declared.

Bucky sighed.

<I guess they’re leaving . . .>

<I guess so,> the scarred raptor replied.

<Are we just going to let them go?> Buzz said with aggravation.

The scarred raptor stood up. 

<What else can we do? Without Ellie, this plan is destined to fail!>

<You sound like the chieftain,> Rocky whispered.

<I’m no leader.>

<Neither is the chieftain,> Kipper sighed.

At that very moment, a valiant cry came from the top of the valley. There, standing proudly at the edge of the kopje, was Alan Grant and a very tall raptor. The herrerasaurs, who had been flooding out of the valley, turned their attention to the peak. The scarred raptor stood with her mouth agape.

<Ellie? . . .>

The raptor on the kopje stepped forward and addressed the masses.

<Raptors, herrerasaurs, gallimimus, and otherwise: this is not the time to flee, but the time to _fight_! If we stand united, no force on earth or heaven will stand in our way! >

<Ellie! What are you doing? You were supposed to leave!> the scarred raptor said frantically. Ellie smiled.

<And miss the party? I don’t think so.>

<You’re crazy!>

<Yes. But that’s why this plan is going to work. Theropods, I have returned of my own volition. Is this irrational? Maybe. But I know, deep down in my heart, that I cannot leave this island until you have been liberated.>

<Ellie, you shouldn’t have come back . . .>

<Why not? Because it was a bad idea? Well, consider this: at one time, I would have said that building Jurassic Park was a _good_ idea. But it’s not that simple. If I’ve learned one thing from my stay at Isla Nublar, it’s that the best ideas are the ones that fail. We can’t fight chaos, so we might as well embrace it! >

<What are you saying?> Morton asked.

<If we can put our heads together and come up with the most absurd, ridiculous, and downright _silly_ plan we can think of, then we can’t possibly fail! >

<Why not?>

<Because when you do everything WRONG, the universe will make sure that things go RIGHT.>

<That’s just silly!>

<Yes. Yes it is. Now, are you going to fight with me, or do I have to do this thing alone?>

The scarred raptor looked to her left and right. Buzz, Rocky, Bucky, Lance, Otto, Crusher, and Kipper were standing beside her, ready for battle. The herrerasaurs joined them, and the compsognathus soon after. Eventually, the entire valley stood proud and tall, all awaiting Ellie Sattler’s command.

 

Ellie smiled.

 

<Let’s go!>


	21. Jurassic War

Jurassic War

Perched above an electric fence, two guards sat idly in an observation tower. The sun was rising over the hill on the untamed side of the barricade, sending bright beams across the purple haze and lighting up the morning sky with beautiful striations.

It was quite a glorious vision to behold but, regrettably, the men were not paying attention to the landscape. This was understandable: they’d seen this same view countless times. At five-thirty in the morning, it was hard to enjoy much of _anything_ , let alone repetitive celestial cycles.

“Hey, Joe. Do you ever think about quittin’?” one guard asked.

The other guard looked at his companion with disdain.

“Why? You thinking of leaving me? Go ahead, I do all the _hard_ work . . .” he huffed grumpily.

“No, no. Nothing like that,” the first guard replied, “It’s just that . . . Oh, I dunno. I wish we had better jobs, is all.”

“The pay is good.”

“Yeah, but I just wish something would _happen_ , you know?”

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. The workers’ keys jingled on their hooks, clanging noisily against the metal pole where they had been hung. A massive cloud of dust appeared over the hill.

“What the . . .”

As the cloud got closer, the workers could distinguish several green-brown shapes galloping across the field. They honked and trumpeted, trampling everything in their path.

“Stampede . . .” one guard gasped, “STAMPEDE!” 

They abandoned their stations as one hundred and fifty-three parasaurolophus barreled through the electric fence. The first few individuals were shocked, but it wasn’t long before the entire structure crumbled under their weight. The wires snapped with a loud _twang_ as the poles collapsed beneath the horde of hadrosaurs. The guards watched the fray with wide eyes, ducking behind a metal bin.

“We’d better call for backup . . .” one guard squeaked.

“Ya think?” his companion growled, cuffing him on his helmet.

When the dust had cleared, the two guards saw the source of the hadrosaurs’ panic. A pack of raptors had been chasing the herd, but for some strange reason, they didn’t manage to kill a single one. The beasts stared at the guards, who shrunk away with fear. A short raptor yapped tersely, and the pack backed off without attacking. Odd. 

One of the guards pulled out his walkie-talkie and pressed the red button.

“This is tower number thirty-seven. We’ve had some major damage down here. The perimeter is _not_ secure. Please send help . . .”

Neither of them noticed a tiny, green compsognathus scurry across the field and into the compound.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Gerry Harding sat down with apprehension. He had been called to Wu’s office, but no one would tell him what for. It probably wasn’t a promotion, he could tell _that_ much.

Wu sat at the other end of his desk, twirling that ghastly staff of his indifferently.

“Dr. Harding.”

“Dr. Wu.”

“I heard that you were considering resignation . . .”

Gerry nodded.

“Yeah. I think it’s time to retire . . .”

“So soon?” Wu asked patronizingly, “Are you sure you can handle the financial pressure?”

“Don’t even go there,” Harding spat in warning, “You have no business dabbling in my affairs . . .”

Wu smiled.

“Don’t be so sure . . .”

He slid a manila envelope across the table. Harding stared at it with confusion.

“Go ahead. Open it.”

Gerry reached inside slowly. He pulled out a pink sheet. After reading the first few lines, he went pale.

“Oh, Gerry. You should have known that I wouldn’t just let this slide. I specifically asked everyone present during the incident to identify any potential carriers of the disease. I don’t like it when people lie to me . . .”

“If this is about Jess-”

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Wu growled, “You granted a native safe passage off the island. She wasn’t even supposed to _be_ on Nublar . . .”

“Well, neither were _you_ , but that didn’t stop you from hiding away in the lab-”

“I had work to do!”

“Sure, sure. Like what? Incubating that baby raptor? What ever happened to it, Henry? Did it die along with all of your other creations?”

Suddenly, a worker burst through the door.

“Dr. Wu! There’s an emergency down at-”

He saw Gerry.

“Oh. Am I . . . Am I interrupting something?”

“No. Come in. Doctor Harding was just leaving,” Wu said calmly.

Gerry stood up and walked to the door. Wu held it open for him. When he passed through the doorframe, however, Wu grabbed the top of his coat and pulled him close.

“Don’t think that this is over, Harding . . .” he whispered, “I will not rest until each and every infected individual is quarantined.”

As soon as Wu let him go, Gerry walked hastily down the hallway. It was definitely, _definitely_ time to move back to San Diego.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ellie pattered through the Visitors’ Center. Although she had donned a lab coat, she wasn’t doing a very good job of blending in. While most scientists were headed towards the source of the disturbance, Ellie was trying to find the control room. She needed to switch off the electric fences on the south side of the compound, but cutting off the park’s power supply entirely was out of the question. No one wanted to fight in the dark, especially with so much at stake. 

After pushing past a group of frantic maintenance workers, Ellie slid through an open door. Her sandals clicked on the linoleum floor, echoing louder than she would have wanted. As she rounded the corner, she ran into two women with black headsets.

“Hey! Where are YOU going?” one of them asked.

Ellie blinked.

“I was sent to fix the computers.”

One woman gave her a suspicious look.

“Oh, yeah? What’s wrong with them?”

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Ellie’s face.

“The- uh . . . The floppy disc . . .”

As the women closed in, Ellie gulped.

“I’m _really_ sorry about this . . .”

_HORK-SPLAT! HORK-SPLAT!_

Ellie coughed up two gobs of venom. The women held their eyes and fell to the ground. Ellie wiped her mouth and walked away as they began to giggle and sing.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“Out of my way, OUT OF MY WAY!”

“Dr. Wu! We’ve had a perimeter breach!”

“I CAN _SEE_ THAT!”

The guard shrunk away.

“We’ve called in all of the maintenance staff. We’ll fix this as soon as possible,” the other guard affirmed.

Wu examined the damage radius. This was no ordinary rampage . . .

“You said there were raptors?”

“Yeah, a half a dozen, at least!” the guard confirmed, nodding furiously,

“And they just ran off?”

“Yes.”

“Without attacking?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve called everyone over to fix this?”

“Yeah, why?”

Suddenly, the remaining half of the fence crackled. The siren honked feebly, but faded into silence. One by one, the lights began to turn off with a clanking sound. Wu stared at the fence.

“You called everyone here? . . .”

“Everyone I could think of . . .”

“You called EVERYONE here?!” Wu repeated.

A white flare hissed above the Visitors’ Center. At the peak of its parabola, it erupted into bright red fragments, which twinkled brightly in the morning sky.

Wu picked up the worker by his coat and shook him.

“IF EVERYONE IS HERE, WHO’S GUARDING THE COMPOUND?”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Alan watched as Ellie set off the flare. As soon as it burst, he turned around and addressed his troops.

“There’s the signal! Dilophosaurs, at the ready!”

Down in the compound, the loudspeakers crackled with static.

‘Attention, all staff!’ Ellie’s voice echoed through the field, ‘This is a theropod insurrection. We have the facility surrounded. Those who evacuate to the hotel lobby will not be harmed. Should you choose to stay, we will be forced to capture you by any means necessary. You have five minutes to surrender.’

Alan stood at the ready. Behind him, the theropod army was chomping at the bit. The scarred raptor paced anxiously, flexing her leg muscles to keep warm. The other seven raptors waited behind her, nickering softly. They had morphed halfway into parrots for ease of communication, but they now began to shift to their battle-morphs. It was a good thing, too, or Alan wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart. 

“How much longer?” the scarred raptor asked.

“Two minutes,” Alan replied.

A blue-gray raptor stepped forward. He watched as the ant-sized people scurried towards the hotel.

“You’re Kibble, right?”

“Kipper,” the scarred raptor interjected (because he was not half macaw, Kipper couldn’t answer for himself).

“Right. Are you a good flyer?”

He nodded.

“Good. Because I have a job for you . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Wu stormed across the field with a dozen scientists in tow. When he reached his jeep, he practically stabbed the ignition with his keys. They snapped in half. His employees looked at him with concern.

“Dr. Wu . . . Do you think- just hypothetically, mind you- that we should have left with the others?” a man asked.

Wu glared at him.

“Coward! Would you betray us?”

The man squeaked.

“Um . . . No, no. Not really. But hypothetically . . .”

‘Alright, everybody! Time’s up!’ Sattler’s voice rang from the loudspeakers, ‘From this point on, anyone found in the facility will be captured and incapacitated. You’ve been warned.’

Another flare sped across the sky. Through the smoke, a blue-gray raptor glided majestically through the air, holding a makeshift banner. The flag was, in fact, a pink shirt that had been tied to a branch by its sleeves, but the message was clear, nonetheless.

“Get to the control room!” Wu barked, “If you find Sattler, _kill her_!”

His scientists did a double-take.

“ _Kill_ her?” one employee gasped, “ _That’s_ a bit extreme. All she did was break a fence and wave a pink flag . . .”

“Actually, it’s a _salmon_ flag,” another employee interrupted.

“You’re _both_ wrong: it’s _dusted tomato_!”

Wu slapped his forehead.

“Just _find_ her!”

Without warning, the sun was blotted out by hundreds of orange frills. Wu grabbed his clipboard and held it above his head. A shower of grey gunk splattered across the ground, covering most of the scientists with icky goo. They started rolling around and laughing like a bunch of drunkards. Wu dragged the unaffected individuals to the Visitors’ Center.

This time, Sattler wouldn’t get away so easily . . .

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ellie spun around in her chair. She wasn’t particularly good with computers, but luckily for her, someone had forgotten to log off of their account. Now that the fences were down, all she would have to do was wait.

‘Ellie? Ellie? You there?’ Alan asked through the walkie-talkie.

Ellie picked up the radio and held the side-button.

“Yep. I’m here. Is everything okay?”

‘Yeah. Do you want me to send in the raptors?’

“Give it a few more minutes. I-”

_BAM, BAM, BAM!_

Ellie jumped. 

“Hang on, Alan, I gotta deal with something . . .”

Wu stood outside the control room with a deep frown upon his face. He rapped his fist on the glass window to get Ellie’s attention. She leaned back in her rolling chair and pushed herself across the room with her feet. When she came to the window, she smiled and waved.

“Dr. Sattler . . . I’m a little surprised to see you alive . . .”

She made a gesture to indicate that she couldn’t hear him across the glass. He spoke louder.

“I’m not the ‘bad guy’, Dr. Sattler. I’m just doing my job.”

“Yeah, but your job includes kidnapping baby dinosaurs, holding your guests hostage, and being a general asshole.”

“So, the solution is to start a war? Is it _really_ wise to help these monsters invade the compound? What have they done to deserve your trust?”

Ellie frowned.

“They aren’t monsters: they’re victims, and I’m helping them because they’ve been through a lot. It’s called empathy. You should try it sometime.”

Wu growled.

“You’re trying my patience.”

“So, surrender. This could all be over in a heartbeat.”

“Surrender? To you? Never.”

Ellie shook her head.

“You just don’t get it, do you? This isn’t about honor. I’m giving you the chance to not get your ass kicked.”

Wu snorted.

“You underestimate me, Dr. Sattler . . .”

‘Ellie? Is everything okay?’

She glided over to the table where her walkie-talkie was lying.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Wu finally showed up . . .”

‘Is he mad?’

“What do YOU think?”

‘Let me talk to him.’

Ellie set the radio to two-way conversation. She held it to the glass.

“Go ahead.”

Alan cleared his throat.

‘You’ve lost, Wu.’

“What makes you so sure?” he hissed.

‘We have raptors stationed at every exit. You’re surrounded.’

Wu laughed.

“Don’t you think I _know_ that? I’m not a fool!”

“Then why are you locked out of every main laboratory in the building?” Ellie sniggered. Wu smiled.

“You _think_ I am . . .”

“Are you talking about the underground lab?” Ellie asked, “I saw it on the computer screen, but I can’t access it without your permission. Is _that_ where you’re keeping the machine?”

Wu looked startled.

“You KNOW about that?”

‘Loose lips sink ships,’ Alan mumbled.

“Robin . . .” Wu growled.

“Right you are. Now, surrender,” Ellie said calmly.

Wu chuckled malevolently.

“Oh, Ellie. You shouldn’t have locked us out . . .”

“Why not?” she asked playfully.

“Because now you have nowhere to run.”

“Run? From whom? You can’t get in here . . .”

“I don’t have to. Two of my staff were locked in with you.”

“You’re bluffing . . .”

“Not at all. They’re up in the digital tower.”

“They can’t let you in. I reset the password . . .”

Wu smiled and turned away from the glass. 

“I hope you’re in the mood for a little rendezvous, Dr. Sattler. I have a friend of yours waiting on the other side of the lab.”

‘What’s he talking about, Ellie?’ Alan asked through the radio.

“There is a way to trigger the post-mortem reaction before death . . .” Wu sneered.

“Doesn’t that make the name contradictory?” Ellie asked. Wu frowned.

“Be that as it may, I highly doubt that you’ll be in any state to question my choice of words when you’re being ripped to shreds by your best friend . . .”

‘What’s he talking about, Ellie?’ Alan repeated.

At that very moment, a deep rumbling came from the other side of the lab.

Ellie gulped.

“Goodbye, Dr. Sattler . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“Ellie? Ellie! What’s going on?” Alan barked as he jogged through the Visitors’ Center. There was no reply from the radio. The scarred raptor trotted behind him.

“Something’s gone wrong . . .”

Alan nodded. 

“We’re gonna have to go in after her.”

“But the doors are locked!”

Alan kicked open an air vent.

“Who needs doors?”

The raptor peered inside.

“I don’t think I’ll fit . . .”

“Fine. I’ll go alone. Make sure that no raptor leaves his or her post. If you see Wu, have the gang of seven round him up. I don’t want to take any chances . . .”

Alan slid through the vent. The scarred raptor watched as he crawled into the darkness.

“I have a bad feeling about this . . .” she mumbled.

Alan didn’t really know where he was going. He was now inside the facility’s ceiling, which was not a location he had ever planned to revisit. Occasionally, he would peek through the grating to see if he was headed in the right direction. Finally, he saw something that looked like a computer. He pushed the ceiling tile to the side and lowered himself onto a desk. When he stepped down, a hand clamped around his mouth. Ellie dragged him under a table.

“What are you _doing_ here?” she whispered.

“I was about to ask you the same thing. Are we hiding from something?”

Ellie nodded.

“Yes. Be quiet.”

They sat and listened. A muffled sound came from across the room. It was like purring, only a lot deeper and a _hell_ of a lot scarier.

“What _is_ it?” Alan asked.

“Giant raptor,” Ellie replied brusquely.

“Have you tried talking to it?”

Ellie shook her head.

“There’s something _off_ about the way it acts. It doesn’t speak _at all_.”

“Why not?”

Ellie shrugged.

“I don’t know. The only _other_ time this happened was with . . .”

“What?”

“. . . was with the allosaurus. Do you remember how stupid it was?”

“I wasn’t really paying attention . . .”

“Shhh!” 

They moved deeper into the shadows as two clawed feet appeared in front of them. The sickle-claws clicked against the floor like high heels. Alan squeezed Ellie’s hand. The creature paused nearby, but continued walking. 

“Ellie . . . morph into a compsognathus.”

“What? Why?”

“We need to get a good look at this thing. If we work together, we might be able to knock it out . . .”

“Good idea.”

Ellie began to shrink, but as she did, she emitted a bright light.

“Shit! I glow!” she said, interrupting the transformation.

The creature snarled. Apparently, he had seen the flash.

“Oh god! Run, _run_!” Alan shouted. 

They scrambled out from under the table. The giant raptor squealed and ran after them.

As they pushed past the rolling chairs, Ellie looked over her shoulder. The dinosaur was black, with grey speckles along its back. It was covered in quills from head to tail. It looked like a peppered porcupine . . .

<RRRUUURH!>

The creature swung its tail. A shower of quills zoomed across the room. A large needle pierced Ellie’s shoulder. She screamed and clutched the place where it had been embedded. Alan stopped running. 

“Oh, _NOW_ I’m angry!”

He grabbed a chair and ran towards the dinosaur. The giant raptor watched as Ellie fell to the ground. Suddenly, it shook its head like it was clearing a migraine.

<Ellie?>

“Aaaaaaaaargh!”

Alan clobbered the raptor with the chair. It fell on its side and kicked its legs in the air.

<Ah! Ooh! Ouch! WHAT THE HELL, ALAN? Stop it!>

Ellie frowned.

“Wait, Alan! Stop punching him!” she gasped.

<Listen to the woman! For god’s sake, stop- ACHCHCH!”

Alan strangled the raptor with both hands. The animal thrashed around and choked noisily.

“Alan, stop!”

“What?” 

“Don’t hurt him!”

“Why not?”

“It’s Ian!” 

Alan paused.

“What? . . .”

<Choking! Must breathe . . .>

“. . . It’s Ian,” Ellie repeated.

Alan let go of Ian’s throat. He stood up slowly.

“Sorry, Ian.”

<Apology NOT accepted. What the hell->

As Ian pointed, he stared at his claws. He peeked over his shoulder and did a little twirl.

<Um . . . Guys? . . .>

“Do you have amnesia, Ian?” Ellie asked.

<Well, I don’t know why I’m a goddamn dinosaur, if that’s what you’re asking . . .>

“What’s he saying?” Alan asked.

<Can’t he understand me?>

“No. But I can. I guess your dialect must be similar to velociraptor. Then again, it might have something to do with _this_ . . .” she grunted as she pulled out his quill. Ian looked at the quill and then at his tail.

<Did I . . . Did I do that?>

“Mmmhm,” Ellie hummed, rubbing the red area around the wound.

<Oh, no! . . . Ellie, I’m so sorry . . .>

“It’s alright. We’ll find some rubbing alcohol,” she said as she took off her labcoat.

<I didn’t mean to- I don’t remember->

“It’s fine, Ian.”

Ellie shivered as the cold laboratory air ran over her bare shoulders. Luckily for her, it was hard to see that she was bleeding against the red tank top. 

The scarred raptor tapped on the glass. Ian jumped back in fright.

“It’s okay, Ian. She’s with us,” Alan explained.

<Whaaat?>

“We’re leading a theropod revolution,” Ellie explained.

<WHAAAT?>

“I can’t understand him. Ellie?”

“Here, maybe _this_ will help . . .”

She pulled a blue feather out of her jeans pocket and rubbed it against Ian’s side. He twitched a little.

<You trying to tickle me to death?>

“Think about a macaw’s vocal cords.”

<That’s a weirdly specific thing to say . . .>

“Just do it.”

Ian paused.

“Okay, now what? . . .”

“Hey, I can understand him!” Alan said, clapping his hands.

“Great! Now we can add ‘ _cunning linguist_ ’ to your resume . . .”

“Aaaaaand I immediately regret being able to hear him,” Alan huffed, “A quiet Ian is a rare thing . . .”

“He WAS rather tran- _quill_ , wasn’t he?” Ellie quipped. Ian snuffed.

“Oh, haha. Very funny.”

“I thought it was _uh_ -mazing!” Alan chuckled.

“Maybe I should poke your eye out!”

“Stop your fighting, boys,” Ellie sighed, “We have a war to win.”

Ian stepped past Ellie.

“Ahem. We’ve got company.”

An old man and a rotund woman were trying to sneak out the back door. When they noticed that they had been caught, they stood up straight and smiled innocently.

“Going somewhere?” Ellie asked angrily.

“Wait! I can explain! This isn’t what it looks like!” the woman stuttered.

“A likely story . . .” Ellie mumbled.

“Alright, Doc, you’d better start talking . . .” Ian growled. The doctor stepped back.

“Zhere ees a cure for your condeetion, Meester Malcolm.”

“Go on . . .”

“Vhee can admeeneester the anteedote vhen vhee get to Wu’s laboratoree . . .”

“Good, good. So you’ll take us there?” Ian asked.

“No. But vhee vhill be runninck avay now . . .”

Suddenly, a slew of guards burst through the newly-opened doors.

“She turned off the locks!” Ellie gasped.

“Your password was ‘velociraptor’. It wasn’t that hard . . .” the woman cackled.

<Hang on, Ellie!>

The scarred raptor and her gang of seven pushed through the guards. They managed to knock out a few men before being shot with tranquilizers. Ian was also shot, but he still took down a few guards with his quills (which apparently caused paralysis in the unvaccinated men) before fainting. Ellie and Alan were captured soon after.

Lance, who was not yet unconscious, snapped at the doctor.

<Oh, no. Not on my watch! Leave- my friends- alone . . .>

He swayed a little, then collapsed.

“Shhh. Try to get some sleep,” the doctor said malevolently.

“Don’t hurt them . . .” Ellie whispered.

“Oh, vheel be keepinck you togezher. You’ll rot in our preeson while vhee open zhee portal . . .”

“No . . . No, the Troödon said that that’s a _very_ bad idea . . .” Ellie pressed, “Please, for everyone’s sake, _don’t do it_.”

“I eentend to go through weeth my plan. Soon, I vheel be zhee most respected scienteest in any deemension . . . and zhere’s nothinck you or anyone else can do to stop me!”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

They were thrown into a cramped holding pen when each and every one of them had been captured. The theropods had retreated, and those who had been guarding the hotel fled as well. Now, everyone at InGen was laughing at Ellie, who had come up with a silly, terrible, destined-to-fail idea and, in doing so, had doomed the velociraptors to an even worse fate. As she curled up with Alan against a sleeping Ian, she couldn’t help but cry a little.

“I’ve screwed everything up, haven’t I?”

Alan squeezed her harder.

“No, you haven’t. You tried your best . . .”

“To do what? Lead a revolution? I’m not a _war hero_ , Alan. I’m just _me_ . . .”

<Well, I think you were _fantastic_ . . . > Kipper said drowsily. Ellie gave a sad smile. When he rolled over, however, Ellie’s smile dissolved into a frown.

“Kipper, you’re bleeding . . .”

He turned his head and examined a long slash that sliced his back all the way down his spine. He chuffed.

<What, this? Nah. It’s just a scratch.>

Ellie sniffed and hugged his neck. He purred in solace.

“Uuurgh . . .”

“Ian? You awake? Are you hurt?” Ellie asked.

Alan let go of Ellie and set Ian’s head straight.

“How is he?”

“Auntie Em! Auntie Em! I had the strangest dream . . .”

“He’ll live.”

“I’m guessing they captured us?” Ian asked.

“Yup,” Alan grunted.

“Hm. _That_ went well!”

Alan was about to reproach Ian for his insensitive remark, but the other raptors began to come back to life.

<Agh! Someone bopped me on the head . . .> Crusher moaned.

“Oh hey! I can kind of understand him!” Ian babbled, <Donde esta raptors por favor?>

<Hey, watch it!> Lance growled.

“What’s he saying?” Alan asked.

<They’re arguing,> Ellie replied.

“In English, please,” Alan clarified.

“Sorry. I forget sometimes . . .”

<Where we at?> Bucky drawled.

“We’re prisoners . . .” Ellie replied.

<You know, it’d be easier to speak raptor->

“I KNOW!” Ellie screamed.

Everyone flinched. They watched with wide eyes as she stood up and placed herself in the corner of the room.

“I know . . .” she repeated.

Ellie pressed her head into the corner and started sobbing. Alan stood up and held her shoulders.

“It’s okay, it’s okay . . .”

“No, no, _no_! It’s _NOT_ okay! This is all my fault! I’ve killed us all!”

Ian stood up.

“We were dead from the moment we set foot on this island. At least you gave us a shot.”

“And _look_ where I _got_ us! I shouldn’t have tried to do something so _stupid_ . . .”

Ellie slid down against the wall and put her head in her arms. The raptors gathered around her sadly. Soon, they formed a saurian group-hug.

Ellie sniffed.

“Well, I guess this is the end . . .”

“Oh, cheer up, Ellie,” the scarred raptor cooed, “At least we’re together.”

Ellie nodded.

“Yeah. I guess you’re right. If I’m gonna die, I want to die with my friends. And also Ian.”

“Hey!”

Ellie laughed.

“I’m just kidding. And I really _am_ sorry that I dragged you into this . . .”

“Naw, it’s fine,” Ian said with a shrug, “It’s not like I could go home like this, anyway, though I’ll bet Sarah would be _thrilled_ . . .”

Ellie nodded sadly.

“I guess you could at least say that you died a hero.”

“This might even be better than the puppy story . . . Wait, so are we going to _die_? Like, _for sure_?”

Ellie shrugged.

“Well, yeah. Unless someone can conjure up a miracle . . .”

<PEE-PEE-TSOOOOOOOOOH!>

The wall exploded. When the dust cleared, a very dizzy-looking allosaurus stepped into the room.

<Note to self: InGen walls are harder than they look . . .>

Ellie stood with her mouth agape.

“ _Robin_?! . . .”

<Who’dya expect? The Great Pumpkin? Ack, that wall was thick . . .>

She shook her head and sneezed.

<Oh, hey! You found my tank top! Keep it. It looks better on you anyway. Also, I’m a dinosaur.>

Ellie nodded.

“Uh-huh. How did _that_ happen?”

<Post-mortem reaction. It’s kind of a funny story . . .>

Another allosaurus stepped across the rubble.

<Everything alright?>

“Can someone _please_ explain to me what’s going on?” Alan asked. Robin giggled and sprouted red feathers.

“Right, I forgot that you can’t understand me . . .”

“Should we tell them?” the other allosaurus asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead . . .” Robin chirped.

“Okay, so-”

“So, it turns out that the allosaurus who attacked me was actually Yannick!” Robin interrupted, “The mad doctor did some sort of-”

“-experiment on me, and I didn’t remember-”

“-who he was, so when he killed me-”

“-I got my memories back because-”

“-he was so horrified with his actions. But luckily-”

“-I bit off Robin’s dysprosium bracelet and-”

“-I became an allosaurus. Shortly after, Yannick-”

“-helped her remember who she was, and we found out that we actually shared-”

“-a lot of common interests, and-”

“-we got to know each other, so-”

“-now we’re dinosaur-married!”

Ellie, who had been listening to their anecdote with wide eyes, stepped forward.

“Dinosaur-married?” she echoed.

“Yeah. It’s like regular-married, only we’re dinosaurs,” Robin explained.

“Uh-huh . . . And how exactly did you _find_ us?” 

Robin smiled.

“Actually, we were called over by a friend of yours . . .”

She stepped aside to reveal Charlie, who stood humbly by her ankles. He pattered over and hopped into Alan’s arms.

“Did I do good?”

Alan laughed.

“Good? _Good_? Charlie, you did _fantastic_!”

Alan, Charlie, and Ellie shared a hug. 

“Awww! That’s so sweet!” Robin gushed, “But the celebration will have to wait. We have a war to win!”

Ellie frowned.

“But how-”

“You didn’t think we came _alone_ , did you?” 

Suddenly, the collective roar of several large theropods rumbled through the Visitors’ Center. Ellie gave a giddy laugh and hugged Robin’s leg.

“That’s not _all_!” Robin bubbled, “We found a couple of old friends wandering about in The North. Turns out, there are _dozens_ of former staff who’ve been transmorphigated by the PMR . . .”

Three raptors stepped into the room. One was covered in nasty-looking scars, another had dark blotches across its body, and the last was missing his right arm. Robin pointed to them one by one.

“This is Oscar Morales, former mercenary, current velociraptor. Ray Arnold, computer technician, mysteriously armless. Robert Muldoon, former game warden who is not, in fact, the thirty-first prime minister of New Zealand.”

“I still don’t understand why that caused so much confusion . . .” Muldoon mumbled.

“Oh my god. Oh my god . . .” Ellie whispered.

“Yeah, we’re alive. Don’t look so surprised,” Mr. Arnold laughed.

“I . . . I found your arm . . .” Ellie blathered. He looked down at the stub on his right shoulder.

“Yeah, I kind of miss it. I can’t say it’d be a good match anymore . . .”

“Don’t worry about that,” Robin said, “There’s a cure for the PMR. But we need to find Wu first . . .”

“We’ll never make it in time!” Crusher gasped, “He’s probably _miles_ across the compound by now, and he has access to the door locks . . .”

“Leave the locks to me,” Mr. Arnold said, sitting down at a computer, “It’s been a while, but I think I remember this system . . .”

His claws pierced the keyboard.

“Shit . . .”

Robin rolled her eyes.

“Alright, while Ray finds another computer, we’ll exit from the back and take Wu by surprise. The underground lab is connected to the emergency bunker, so he won’t be expecting-”

She looked around.

“What? You think I’d come here without a plan?”

“Robin, this is going to be very dangerous,” Yannick said uneasily, “I don’t want you to get hurt . . .”

“Says the guy who, uh, tried to beat her to a pulp a couple of days ago . . .” Ian grumbled. Yannick growled, but Ellie stood between them.

“Look, we’re going to have to work together if we want to win this thing. Just like before, remember?”

“Yeah! How hard can it be?” Bucky bubbled.

“Don’t jinx it!” Rocky said nervously.

Ellie turned to her raptor friends.

“Sorry, guys, but you’ll have to sit this one out. Go back to camp and make sure that the wounded are taken care of.”

“But-”

“No buts,” the scarred raptor said, “Ellie and I are going in _alone_.”

Ellie cringed.

“Actually-”

The scarred raptor held up her claw.

“Let me rephrase that. If you don’t let me come along, I’ll cut out your spleen.”

Ellie nodded.

“Fair enough. The rest of you, go home.”

“And take Charlie . . .” Alan said, placing him on the ground.

“No. I’ll circle the sky. You need my help.”

“Charlie, no. You’re going to get hurt . . .”

Charlie’s feathers bristled.

“I won’t! Nobody suspects the parrot . . .”

Ellie crouched down.

“Charlie, you’ve done well. Go home. Be safe.”

Charlie scowled, but nodded. Ellie smiled and stood up.

“Alright. Before we go, are there any objections?”

Ian snorted.

“Nah. What’s the _worst_ that could happen?”

“What have we got to _lose_?” Alan added.

“What are we _waiting_ for?” Yannick said with a grin.

“What are- Shit, you guys took the good ones . . .” Robin whined. Ellie smiled.

“I take it we’re ready?”

Robin gave a triumphant roar.

“I was _born_ ready!”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Once they were outside, the gang noticed Richthofen and Trixie running through the field. Robin growled and pawed at the ground.

“Hang on, guys. I have some unfinished business.”

She stormed across the meadow and roared.

When they heard Robin approaching, Trixie and Richthofen ran like two-legged bunnies. It was a futile effort, as Robin was going over thirty clicks. Finally, she cornered them.

“Hello, Trixie . . .” she spat.

“R-Robin? Is this some kind of _sick joke_?!”

“No. The only joke _here_ is your hairdo.”

Trixie patted her perm self-consciously.

“You feelthee reptile!” Richthofen sputtered.

“You say that like it’s a _bad_ thing . . .” Robin cooed, “But in all seriousness, you’ve done some pretty nasty things to my friends and my dinosaur-husband. So, I highly recommend that you apologize to them before I swallow you whole.”

“WHAT?!” Trixie gasped.

“You heard me, ya’ lacquer-plated bimbo!”

Trixie gulped.

“I’m sorry . . .”

Robin nodded.

“Very good. Lars?”

“Don’t be callinck me zhat . . .”

“I’ll call you whatever I want, p’tit moufette morveuse . . .”

“Vhat?”

Robin growled.

“Apologize!” Trixie shrieked.

“NEIN!”

Richthofen darted away. Before Robin could catch him, he dove into the forest. The trees were too thick to allow an allosaurus safe passage.

“Ah, shit! He got away.”

Robin turned to leave, but a shrill scream came from the jungle. Before they knew what was happening, there was a sound of snapping branches. Richthofen was catapulted through the air like a dead cow.

“AIYAIYAIYAIYAI!”

They watched as he landed in a conveniently-placed pile of brachiosaurus manure.

“That is one big-”

“Shut up, Ian,” everyone said.

Morton and Penelope trotted out of the forest.

“I guess no one told him that Moreton Bay Fig Trees have elastic branches . . .” Morton said smugly. Ellie laughed. She was about to say something witty, but a loud crackle suddenly buzzed across the field.

“Oh, no! He’s started up the machine!” Trixie gasped.

“ _What_?!” Robin gasped, “He can’t _do_ that! Not after what happened last time . . .”

“Don’t act so _innocent_ , Robin! You went through the holes too!” Trixie spat.

“At this point, I could mention your little shellac escapade, but I’ll be the bigger person. Dinosaur. Whatever.”

Ellie stepped between them.

“Again, stop fighting. We need to stop Wu before he does something crazy. If the Troödon were telling the truth, he could destroy us all . . .”

“You saw the Troödon? Well, shit!” Robin grumbled, “Why do _you_ get to have all the adventures? All _I_ did was have hot, steamy, dinosaur s-”

“BOUNDARIES!” Ian shrieked, plugging his ears.

“Right, so let’s go _stop_ him!” Robin finished. Ellie nodded.

“Mr. Morales, can you guard Trixie?” Ellie asked.

“No problem. It’ll be easy,” the raptor said with a brief salute.

The rest of the gang trotted away, but not before Robin gave Trixie one last sardonic smile.

“Just for the record, I _love_ my VHS.”

And thus, the cavalry charged towards the underground lab.

**  
**


	22. Overworld

Overworld

“You know, I never got to thank you for saving my life . . .” Ellie said as she sprinted beside Muldoon.

“Think nothing of it. I only wish I could have finished off a couple of raptors for you.”

Ellie shrugged.

“I guess it all worked out in the end, though I can’t imagine why the T-Rex would suddenly acquire a taste for velociraptor . . .”

She slowed down and pulled out a taser.

“Speaking of which, I had better get ready for the battle . . .”

She closed her eyes and brought the taser closer to her arm. The energy made her hair stand up on end.

Alan hopped over nervously.

“Ellie, wait . . .”

She sighed.

“It’s the only way . . .”

_CRACK!_

The taser exploded in her hand. A decrepit-looking man with a grey mustache reloaded his gun.

“ _Stan_?” Robin gasped, “The sanitation man?!”

He aimed the gun at Ellie.

“It’s time to take out the trash . . .”

<CRAW!> 

A blue macaw swiped its talons across his face. Stan grabbed his bleeding eyes and screamed.

“I _told_ you you needed my help . . .” Charlie chirped as he flew by.

“Aaargh!”

Charlie made another dive. Stan reached desperately for his gun. Charlie grabbed it and tried to carry it away.

<CRAW!>

As he flew by, Stan grabbed his tail.

<AWK!>

Charlie demorphed as Stan threw him to the ground. Ellie dashed over and cradled Charlie in her arms. Stan cocked his gun.

<SCREEEEEEEEE!>

A raptor attacked him from behind. He shot his gun madly in the air as he was dragged across the ground by his other arm. Ellie grabbed Charlie and ran to safety.

After a brief fight, the raptor slashed Stan across the belly. He fell to the ground, holding his own intestines in his hand. The raptor stumbled away from his body woozily.

<Chieftain!> the scarred raptor gasped.

The chieftain staggered towards her son, but collapsed halfway. She had been shot.

<No!> Charlie wailed.

Ellie rushed over and tore off the bottom of her pantleg. She wrapped it around the bullet wound, but it was no use. The scarred raptor dashed over and lay by the chieftain’s side.

<Hold on . . . Just hold on . . .>

The chieftain looked around with glazed eyes.

<Take . . . my son. The raptors are yours. Don’t let anything happen . . . happen to them.>

She coughed up blood. Ellie put her hand on the raptor’s side.

<Wasn’t . . . fair fight. You won. We have . . . a new chieftain.>

She closed her eyes and lay very still. Charlie hung his head and whimpered. Ellie scooped him up and carried him over to Morton and Penelope. The scarred raptor followed.

<Ellie . . .>

<I know. You’ll get him back when this is over. For now, I need your help. You’re the new chieftain, after all . . .>

The scarred raptor turned her head.

<She wasn’t->

<Look, it was her dying wish. You’d better roll with it. Morton, Penelope: take Charlie home.>

The scarred raptor dug her claws into the ground.

<But she wasn’t->

<You heard what she said,> Ellie asserted.

<BUT SHE WASN’T->

<C’mon, guys. We’d better stop Wu before he hurts anyone else.>

As they moved out, the scarred raptor sighed. She couldn’t help but feel that Ellie knew exactly what the chieftain meant.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

From his perch on the catwalk, Wu watched the machine come to life. The half-moon blades began to accelerate in different directions, eventually creating a glowing sphere at the center of the podium. Bolts of electricity crackled around the orb as it hummed. This was going to be one hell of a show.

_BAM!_

The doors rattled under the impact of some unseen force.

_BAM!_

The metal became slightly dented.

_BAM!_

An allosaurus burst through the doors like a battering ram.

“Oh, geez . . .” she drawled, “Imma have to lie down. How do pachycephalosaurs _do_ this?”

“Robin . . .” Wu hissed.

She wagged her tail.

“Surprise!”

She kicked a group of scientists to the side and skipped across the lab.

“Impossible!” Wu spat, “You _died_! And you were wearing a dysprosium band!”

She smiled.

“Nope! . . . Er, nope to the second question, I mean. Anyway, I guess you can say that I’m about to be ‘ _Robin_ ’ your banks!”

“WHAT?”

Robin giggled.

“Oh, don’t worry. We _all_ have puns prepared.”

Ellie stepped through the doorway.

“I hope you’ve studied for your ‘Ell-Satts’!”

Alan joined her.

“Because we’re about to ‘Grant’ you admission!”

Ian slid in on his claws.

“Forgot your pen? Here, take a QUILL!” 

He launched his spikes at Wu’s employees, who scattered like cockroaches.

“Fools! We outnumber them!” Wu roared.

“Yeah, but do you have teeth or claws?” Yannick snarled, “I don’t _think_ so . . .”

Wu laughed. He began quietly, but eventually burst into a full-out cackle. The gang watched him angrily.

“Well, if it isn’t our band of intrepid heroes. Have you come to save the day?”

“Give it up, Wu! You’re alone, outnumbered, and defeated,” Alan hissed.

“I don’t think so . . .”

Wu began to type commands into his keyboard.

“You’ll never get away with this!” Robin growled. Wu smiled.

“Watch me.”

“Does anyone else think he should have said ‘I already have’? No? Just a thought,” Ian sighed.

“Prepare to be sent beyond the realms of time and space . . .” Wu chuckled.

“Shit! Everybody, duck!” Robin bellowed.

The machine crackled with electricity. Gradually, seven strings of energy wove out of the sphere like smoke and enveloped each member of the gang. They screamed as they were sucked into the depths of the orb.

“Goodbye . . .” Wu sneered.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Alan sat up and rubbed his head. He had landed in the middle of a lawn somewhere (the area appeared to be a suburban neighborhood, though something was a little off about it), but he couldn’t even begin to guess where his current location might be. He began to worry when he noticed that the world around him was devoid of color. Before he could wonder whether he had hit his head too hard, a blonde girl skipped over and smiled sweetly.

“Oh, someone new to play with. What good luck I have lately. I was just starting to get bored. Oh, we’re going to have so much fun!”

“Errr . . .” Alan began.

“Let’s play a game! First, you need to make Timmy Neusbaum cry!” she said pleasantly.

“What? I’m not going to make someone _cry_!” Alan barked.

Suddenly, the little girl’s voice dropped an octave.

“If you want answers, you will make Timmy Neusbaum cry!” she growled in a thick german accent.

Alan jumped back.

“Geez!”

“Do it.”

Alan sighed and stomped across the grass. The last thing he needed was _two_ angry german scientists on his case . . .

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ellie shivered. Her lower half was stuck in a pile of fluffy snow. 

“Great . . .” she murmured.

Ellie pushed down on the snow with her hands and wiggled her legs. Once she had freed herself from the snowdrift, Ellie stood up and brushed herself off. She was on a snowy mountain, but there was no sign of her friends.

“Alan? . . .” she called.

“Who’s Alan?”

Ellie shrieked and jumped back. 

“Ooh! Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!”

A living snowman waddled out from behind the snowdrift.

“Oh my god . . . Oh my god . . .” Ellie whispered.

“Hi! I’m Olaf, and I like warm hugs!” 

He flourished his arms expectantly. Ellie gulped and shook his hand (which was really more of a stick).

“I’m Ellie Sattler . . . I like plants . . .”

The snowman smiled and did a little dance.

“Cool! I don’t think you’ll see many plants here: it’s kind of wintery, hee hee!”

Ellie nodded. This was so _weird_ . . .

“Uh-huh. And where _is_ ‘here’? . . .” 

The snowman pointed to a large castle at the base of the mountain.

“This is the beautiful kingdom of Arendelle!” he said cheerfully.

“Great! A city! Can you take me there?” Ellie asked.

“Sure! Follow me!”

He slid over a hill and skipped merrily down the mountain, leaving a deep trail in the white powder. Ellie trudged through the snow miserably, hoping that none of her friends were stuck in this cold weather.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Ian spat out a mouthful of sand. He coughed and rubbed his tongue with his claws.

“Blech!”

He shook his head and looked around. He was in the middle of a village that mostly consisted of humbly-decorated bumps in the sand (which appeared to be buildings). Strange creatures roamed the streets, speaking in unfamiliar tongues and dialects.

Ian gawked as a winged tapir fluttered by.

“Eh, watch it! Filthy Ssi-ruu!”

Ian frowned. This place was very familiar. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear that he was in a Star Wars movie. But that was impossible. Something about this place didn’t quite seem like the series he had grown up with . . .

“ _Yararah_!”

An orange bunny-lizard crashed into Ian. He snarled as the creature wobbled around on elephant-like feet.

“Oh, mesa sorry! Mesa didn’t see yous!” he babbled.

“Didn’t see- Didn’t SEE me? I’m twenty feet tall!” Ian growled.

“Mesa sorry! Please don’t be a’ hurtin’ mees!”

Ian plugged his ears.

“I won’t! I won’t! You’re, uh, really quite grating, you know . . .”

“Yousa very honest . . .” the creature gurgled.

“Yeah, yeah. Run along!” Ian said dismissively.

“Bye-bye!” the creature said brightly, bobbing its head as it walked away.

“Yeesh . . .” Ian gasped, “I don’t think I like this world . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Robin shook her head.

“Yannick, darling, did we end up in the same dimension?”

No reply.

“Oh, no! We must have landed in separate worlds!” 

She looked around. 

“Hm. This looks like the 80’s. I’d better find a way out of here.”

She padded through an empty parking lot.

“Well, at least I’m not stuck at some other InGen . . .” she sighed.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Yannick groaned. He had hit his head really, _really_ hard. If it weren’t for his thick dinosaur skull, he might have painted the walls with grey matter. Speaking of which, what kind of a building had such pale walls to begin with? It seemed to be some kind of laboratory, but there wasn’t any equipment around . . .

<Hello.>

. . . except for a dangerous weapon.

Yannick ducked out of sight as the machine fired a hail of bullets. When he was safely hidden, Yannick peeked around the corner. His attacker was a little egg-shaped robot that stood on three legs and scanned the area with a red laser. 

<Sentry mode activated . . .>

Yannick backed away. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t very friendly. 

He turned another corner and walked through a circular door, which led to a glass elevator. Once he had squished himself inside (which was no easy feat for an allosaurus), the elevator brought him to a lower level. He stepped out and sniffed the air.

“Yuck . . .”

A bubbling lake of greenish-brown goo sizzled beneath the platform on which he was stationed. _That_ couldn’t be safe . . .

<Hello.>

Yannick jumped back as another egg-robot scanned him with the laser. It didn’t shoot.

<I’m different . . .>

“ _Sure_ you are, sweetie . . .”

Yannick picked it up and placed it on a strange-looking floor panel. Without warning, it was launched through the air like a rogue UFO.

<Wheeeeeeeee!>

It landed on the other side of the moat with a gentle clatter.

“Cool . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Robert Muldoon was stuck inside a cake. While it was very delicious (and strawberry-flavored), he didn’t particularly want his obituary to read “suffocation by icing”. He wiggled until he felt someone tug on his tail. Suddenly, he was yanked out of the dessert.

“Hiya! I’ve never seen _you_ before . . .”

He screamed. A fluffy, pink pony was bouncing up and down in front of him.

“WHAT THE _HELL_ ARE _YOU_?” 

“I’m Pinkie Pie!” she giggled, “What’s your name?”

“Robert Muldoon. Where _am_ I?”

“Ponyville!”

She waved her hoof in the air cheerfully. Hundreds of pastel-colored ponies trotted through the streets on happy little hooves. Robert thought he might faint.

“Ponies . . . Ponies everywhere . . .” he whimpered.

“Haven’t you ever seen a pony before?” she squeaked, batting her eyelashes innocently.

“No. I mean, yes. But not _these_ ponies. This is crazy . . .”

“You sure aren’t a _pony_ , mister. What _are_ you, anyway?” she asked, examining his tail.

“Velociraptor. Well, actually-”

“I’ve never heard of _that_ before . . .” she mused.

“Well, I’d better get going . . .” he said, licking the frosting off his back. She stepped in front of him and held up a hoof.

“HANG ON, BUSTER! You can’t leave until I give you a proper welcome . . .”

“I’m fine, thanks . . .”

“Welcome, welcome, welcome! A fine welcome to you . . .” she sang.

This was definitely a bad place to be.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

The scarred raptor was getting frustrated. She had spent the last few minutes trying to get information out of a brawny buffoon, and he didn’t seem to be very helpful.

“Alright, so if I help you find this . . .”

“Sarah Connor.”

“Right. So if I help you find this friend of yours, you’ll get me home, right?”

He gave a single nod.

“Good. So I’ll just take a look up in the sky . . .”

She donned her albatross morph and soared above the rooftops.

“I don’t see anyone . . .” she shouted, “Was she nearby when you lost her?”

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light down below. When the scarred raptor landed, she saw that her companion had been run over by a silver car. The side door opened, and Robin hopped out cheerfully.

“Oh, cool! I found you. Listen, we gotta round up the others . . .”

“What have you _done_? What _is_ this ghastly apparatus?”

Robin looked offended.

“You don’t recognize it? Ack, raptors are _so_ uncultured! This is a DeLorean. In fact, it’s _the_ DeLorean. Don’t you watch any movies?”

“Not many.”

“Ack! Well, it turns out I landed in a very convenient place. With a little fiddling, I managed to break through the dimensional barrier with the flux capacitor . . .”

She pulled a three-pronged light out of the car.

“ . . . and now we can use this baby to find the others . . .”

The scarred raptor stood with her mouth agape. Robin frowned.

“What? Why does everybody think I’m stupid just because I’m an idiot? . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Alan was having no luck with his quest. He didn’t really want to make the kid upset, so he had searched the neighborhood for some other way to make him cry. Apparently, onions weren’t on the menu in crazy-town.

“Hi there. I’m Timmy.”

Alan rubbed his brow.

“I _know_ you’re Timmy. You’ve _said_ that a million times . . .”

“Wanna buy some lemonade?”

“No. I don’t have any money. Please leave me alone.”

“Hi there. I’m Timmy.”

Alan sighed.

“Look, kid. Can you help me find my friends?”

“Do they live around here?”

“No, no. Definitely not. Some of them are dinosaurs . . .”

“Dinosaurs?”

“Yeah, you know . . . velociraptors.”

“So you’re looking for big lizards?”

Alan frowned.

“They’re more like big birds . . .”

The boy giggled. 

“You don’t find that scary? Try to imagine yourself in the Cretaceous Period . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Olaf skipped through the trees with Ellie close behind.

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked innocently.

Ellie shivered.

“It’s awfully cold . . . I suppose you don’t mind, though, being a snowman and all . . .”

“Nnnope!”

“So what happens when summer comes? Do you melt like regular snowmen?”

“What’s summer?” he asked, lacing his fingers together.

“It’s a season. You know. Where everything gets warm and sunny . . .” she explained.

“That sounds cool!”

“Or hot!” Ellie laughed.

“Ellieeeeeeeee!”

They stopped walking.

“Did you hear something?” Ellie asked.

“ELLIEEEEEEEEE!”

A gleeful allosaurus was sledding down the mountain with a very frightened-looking velociraptor on her back.

“Robin!”

“Yay! More friends!” Olaf bubbled.

Ellie jumped to the side as Robin tumbled past, landing directly on Olaf. The snowman was violently disassembled under her weight.

“ _Holy shit_!” Ellie gasped.

Robin stood up. 

“Sorry!”

Olaf picked up his top half and placed it on his posterior.

“I think I need a minute to pull myself together! Heehee!”

“Robin, what’s going on?” Ellie asked.

“I found a way to cross dimensions. Once we find the others, we’ll be able to return to the lab.”

“Great! Thanks for your help, Olaf! I can take it from here . . .”

He giggled.

“Okay! See ya later!”

He waved goodbye as the trio disappeared into another world.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

“Roll out the party canon for a special welcome _BOOM_! Welcome, welcome, welcome to our good friend Rob Muldoon . . .”

“You’ve been singing for half an hour . . .” Robert moaned.

“He fell into our birthday cake, this raptor friend of mine! He’s-”

_ZAP!_

Robin, Ellie, and the scarred raptor appeared in front of him.

“THANK GOD! TAKE ME HOME!”

Pinkie held up her hoof.

“Wait! You didn’t get-”

_ZAP!_

“. . . a slice of cake.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

The gang found Yannick suspended from a tangle of wires. As they approached him, he wiggled in an attempt to free himself.

“Robbie! You came back for me!” he cheered. Robin chomped down on a loose cable.

“Of course I did! What kind of a dinosaur-wife would I be if I left you?”

Ellie smiled.

“They’re kind of cute together.”

Muldoon snorted.

“I’ve had enough ‘cute’ to last me a lifetime. That pony gave me a candy-bracelet . . .”

He held up a pastel-colored chain with a pendant that read “Best Friends Forever”. Ellie giggled.

“It’s NOT funny!”

Yannick fell heavily to the ground.

“OOF! I told you to be gentle . . .”

Robin grinned.

“That’s what-”

“OKAY, MOVING ON!” Ellie shouted.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After winning a hundred Druggats in a game of Digotto, Ian purchased a couple of Gorgs to snack on. They were a little icky, but Ian was very hungry.

_ZAP!_

“Holy shit!” he gasped.

“Ian! We’ve found a way to get back . . .” Ellie said quickly.

“Alright. Just let me say goodbye to those Twi’lek babes . . .”

“IAN!”

“Fine, fine . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

The gang found Alan in a strangely uncolored world. He was trying desperately to get a kid to stop crying.

“Alan!” 

“Ellie!” 

They hugged.

“What happened? Why is that kid crying?”

“I didn’t mean to scare him, really! He’s kind of a wimp . . .”

“You gave him your velociraptor lecture, didn’t you?”

“Maybe . . .”

Ellie rolled her eyes.

“Alright, ya big lug. Come with us. We’re going home.”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After wandering through several dimensions, the gang stopped by a cafe and gas station.

“Robin, I think we’re lost . . .” Ellie sighed. Robin bit her lip.

“I know. I’ve tried to locate our dimension by retracing my steps, but it’s _really_ difficult.”

“Well, how did you find all of us on the first go, then?” Ian asked grumpily.

“It might have something to do with the fact that we were all sucked in from one starting point. I guess we just need to function on trial-and-error . . .”

The scarred raptor growled.

“This _never_ would have happened if we had asked directions from that bald boy!”

Muldoon frowned.

“He was riding a giant, white buffalo. Does that seem _normal_ to you?”

“More normal than a yellow rabbit-mouse!” Yannick snarled.

“Hey! We couldn’t let it zap Ellie . . .” Alan protested.

“Guys, guys! Calm down!” Robin whined pleadingly, “We need to be patient . . .”

Ian pawed at the ground.

“There _has_ to be an easier way to get back! We can’t stay here forever . . .”

Robin thought it over.

“Well . . . there is _one_ way . . .”

“Go on . . .” Ian said. Robin shook her head.

“It’s _very_ dangerous . . .”

“Spit it out!” Ian said impatiently. Robin stared at the flux capacitor.

“We could use this thing to take us to a place beyond these dimensions. There is a governing world, above our own, that seems to be the birthplace of all canonical universes. If we travel through this ‘Overworld’, it’d give us a straight path to where we want to go.”

Ellie waved her hand.

“But . . .” she prompted.

“But there is a slight chance that we could destroy the canon of each and every dimension.”

“Right . . .” Ellie sighed.

“What choice do we have?” Alan interjected, “Wu is going to do something _very_ bad, maybe even WORSE than this plan of ours . . .”

Robin snorted.

“I seriously doubt that! This plan is the space-time equivalent of kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach!”

“Robin!” Ellie hissed.

“Well, it’s _true_! If my theory is correct, the Overworld houses the creators of life as we know it. If we try to breach the wall between us, not only will we destroy the flux capacitor, but we might change the course of history . . . of future history . . . of everything!”

Yannick nudged Robin affectionately. 

“If anyone can get us out of this place safely, it’s you.”

Robin sighed.

“Fine. Get ready, everyone! We’re about to break a very important wall . . .”

The flux capacitor glowed with an otherworldly light. It began to fizzle and pop like a piece of hot bacon. With an explosion of cataclysmic proportions, it was blown to smithereens. The gang tumbled through a vortex of terror, until they found themselves in- WHAT THE FLIPPING HELL?!

“Sorry! We’re just passing through!”

Shit! Get out of here! Get out!

“I’m trying, _geez_!”

“Whatcha writing?”

None of your business! 

“This dimension is tricky . . .”

I swear, if you don’t leave soon, I’ll call campus security!

“No need to freak out, lady!”

“Hey, is that an Aero bar? Yoink!”

Give that _back_! 

“Hang on, guys! I think I got this!”

With a bright flash of light, they were sucked out of the Overworld. The narrator sat sadly on her bench. Now that she was alone, all she could do was silently mourn the loss of her chocolate bar. She stood up and walked over to the vending machine, but she didn’t have enough change for another snack. She slid her iPad into her backpack and stormed down the hall angrily.

 

Sometimes, fictional characters could be real assholes.


	23. What Else They Were Up To

What Else They Were Up To

Needless to say, Wu was surprised to see them return.

“What is the meaning of this?!” he spat.

“Pwepawe to meet yaw doom!” Ian said through a mouthful of chocolate. Wu’s fists tightened around the metal railing.

“How many times do I have to kill you?!” he shrilled.

“Zero is enough . . .” Robin replied cheekily.

Wu growled and typed on his keyboard. He frowned and typed something else. Finally, he slammed his fist on the device.

“What have you _done_?”

The loudspeakers crackled.

‘You should know better than to hack a hacker, Wu. You didn’t even say the magic word . . .”

Wu snapped the keyboard in half.

“Temper, temper,” Ellie sneered reproachingly.

“You . . . _You_! This is all YOUR fault!” Wu hissed. Ellie and Alan trudged up the catwalk’s stairs.

“No, you dug your own grave,” Alan hummed, “You had the chance to surrender . . .”

“I’d rather _die_!”

“I think he might have some anger issues . . .” Robin said from below.

“Shut up! Shut up!” Wu shrieked. Robin sniggered.

“Haha! He’s kind of testy. If there were a word for ‘skunk’ in Chinese, it’d be Wu!”

They all gave her a questioning look.

“It’s true! There is no Mandarin word for skunk.”

They looked at Wu.

“What? . . .” he asked obliviously.

“Don’t you speak Chinese?” Ian asked.

“Don’t you speak Yiddish?” Wu mimicked.

“Enough! It’s time to surrender, Wu. This is your last chance . . .” Alan said in warning. Wu backed further down the catwalk.

“Never . . . Never in a million years . . .”

He grabbed his cane and pointed it at Alan and Ellie like a spear.

“Come on, Wu,” Ellie pleaded, “We’re trying to help you. Just let it go. Surrender.”

“Never . . .”

“Do the right thing,” Alan said gravely.

“I should have killed you myself!” 

“He’s not backing down . . .” Ellie said redundantly.

Finally, Wu reached the end of the catwalk. He peered over the edge nervously.

“Don’t jump . . .” Alan said.

Wu sneered.

“Fool! I’m not going to jump!”

Suddenly, he leapt forward and sliced at the suspension cables with the clawed end of his staff. 

 _TWANG!_  

The catwalk began to teeter and roll in midair.

“Ellie! Hold on to me!” Alan shouted as he grabbed a loose cable.

They swung across the lab like Tarzan of the Apes, landing messily on Robin’s back.

“Nice catch!” Alan remarked.

“Thanks!”

The catwalk continued to sway. Wu grabbed the railing as it jerked downwards.

“Hang on!” Ellie shouted as she steered Robin towards him.

“Jump, Wu! We’ll catch you!” Alan bellowed as the catwalk began to tilt on its side.

“Never! NEVER!”

“Let us help you . . .” Ellie pleaded.

Wu launched his staff at her. It ricocheted off of Robin’s head and was embedded in an overturned computer monitor, sending white-hot sparks into the air. As Robin jumped back, the catwalk plummeted to the ground. Wu fell through the air and landed directly on his staff. It pierced him straight through the gut. He coughed up blood, shivered, and went limp. Ellie turned her head away regretfully. 

“We tried . . .” Alan whispered.

Robin lowered them to the ground. They stepped off her back and went to join the others.

“I guess we’d better go back and tell the other raptors what happened . . .” the scarred raptor sighed.

As they filed through the door, a muffled cracking sound came from behind them. Everyone froze. It grew louder. They turned their heads fearfully. Wu’s body had begun to twitch on the staff.

“Oh god, is he still alive?” Alan squeaked. Robin backed away.

“It’s the PMR! It’s the PMR!”

“What? How?” Ellie gasped.

“The claw! It contains viable DNA!” she shrieked.

Ellie pushed everyone through the door. 

“Come on, we gotta go! Now!”

“But Ellie . . .” Robin protested, “We can’t let a mindless Super-Rex wander the compound!”

“The PMR does terrible things to your brain!” Yannick added.

“I can vouch for that . . .” Ian confirmed.

Ellie considered this.

“Alright. Everybody out, except for Alan, Ian, and Robin.”

“ _What_?” Yannick shrieked.

“Do as she says, honey,” Robin replied calmly. Yannick turned and walked through the door grumpily.

Meanwhile, Wu’s hands had become horribly misshapen. His thumb and pinky finger were melting away into nothingness, leaving one . . . two . . . three fingers? That couldn’t be right . . .

“Um . . . Guys?” Ian said slowly, “That doesn’t look like a T-Rex . . .”

Ian was right. Wu’s snout seemed to be growing much too long, and two pointy crests were forming above his eyes. The dead giveaway, though, was the massive sail that grew along his spine.

“Alan . . . How much trouble are we in?” Ellie asked nervously.

“We . . . We’d better think of something,” he said weakly.

Ellie dashed over to a nearby security camera.

“Ray, if you can hear us, we need help . . .”

The lights blinked three times.

“Alright, everybody else, find a hiding place until we come up with a plan!”

Alan ducked under a desk and Ian dove into a supply closet. Robin looked around nervously.

“Ellie, where do you hide a four-ton dinosaur?”

“Get behind that curtain over there. Let’s hope he doesn’t go looking for us . . .”

Ellie joined Alan in his hiding place just as Wu’s morphing subsided. She held his hand as the giant dinosaur pulled himself upright.

“Alan . . . Is that-”

“Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, yes.”

“Fully-grown?”

“Nearly.”

The spinosaurus growled. Ellie squeezed Alan’s hand tighter.

“Alan, do you think . . . I mean- . . . Could a T-Rex-”

He shook his head.

“It could go either way, but I’m not putting you in danger . . .”

“We may not have a choice . . .”

Ellie glanced at a loose wire. Alan turned her head away.

“Don’t. I’m not going to lose you again.”

The spinosaurus began to sniff the air.

“Alan, he’s coming . . .”

“Ellie . . .”

She pulled Alan closer and kissed him full on the lips. While he was dazed, she rolled over and grabbed the wire.

“Ellie, _no_!”

She touched the end of the wire and jolted. The spinosaurus heard their exchange and began to hiss.

“Ian! Distract him!” Alan bellowed. 

Ian tumbled out of the supply closet and flicked his tail at the monster. It barked as a shower of quills pierced its snout. As it clawed at the spikes, Robin charged it from behind and yanked its tail. It roared angrily and spun around. Alan continued to sit by Ellie, whose metamorphosis was nearly complete. The spinosaurus roared angrily and snapped at Robin, who growled in reply. As she lunged at the beast, it caught her neck in its jaws. She screamed and clawed at its face. Before it could snap her neck, however, Ian launched himself through the air and dug his claws into its side. The spinosaurus roared and snapped its jaws, but Ian climbed higher. Finally, the monster caught his leg and flung him into a bleeding Robin. Just as the spinosaurus was about to finish them off, Ellie knocked it over. It hissed and flailed like a trout out of water.

“Ellie! Run!” Alan shouted desperately. She shook her head and pinned the spinosaurus to the ground with her foot. Alan stood up and ran to a computer. He didn’t know what he was doing, but he had to try _something_ . . .

<RRRAAAHHH!>

Ellie screamed in surprise as the spinosaurus righted itself, knocking her off balance. It slammed into her side and pushed her to the ground. Alan typed furiously at the keyboard. 

_ZAP!_

Without warning, the machine came to life. The spinosaurus turned in confusion as the orb began to glow with a bright, white light. Alan pressed several keys at random. A ribbon of light emerged from the sphere and began to wrap around the spinosaurus. It roared as it was sucked into the portal.

“Close the gate . . .” Robin said weakly. Alan shook his head.

“We don’t know where we’ve sent him . . .” Alan quavered nervously.

Ian sighed.

“Wherever he is, it’s not our problem anymore.”

From inside the portal, they could hear a frazzled roar and gunfire. A shrill voice echoed through the light.

“WHAT’S A BAD ID-”

Alan shut down the machine, cutting off the voice that emerged from an unseen world. Ellie circled the lab and helped Robin to her feet. Ian limped by her side for support. The four of them stood in silence for a moment.

“You know, all things considered, that went _surprisingly_ well . . .” Ian remarked. Robin nodded woozily.

“You guys sure know how to show a girl a good time.”

Ellie supported Robin as they limped out of the lab. Before shutting the door, Alan took one last look at the machine. Ian nudged his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it. It sounded like they had plenty of ammunition on the other side.”

Alan gave a noncommittal grunt. 

“I hope this doesn’t come back to haunt me . . .”

Ian snorted.

“Do you _really_ believe in all that ‘karma’ nonsense?”

Alan shook his head.

“Not really, but I’ll bet that I’ve caused some serious damage in that world . . .”

Ian shrugged.

“Maybe. But _you’re_ safe, and that’s what’s important.”

And he trotted through the door without another word.

 

 


	24. Home

Home

When they stepped into the sunlight, the gang was met with a loud cheer. The theropod army was waiting for them outside, and they received a hero’s welcome. Buzz, Rocky, Bucky, Lance, Otto, Crusher, Kipper, Morton, and Penelope dashed over to Ellie and rubbed against her legs affectionately. How they were able to recognize her, she would never know. 

“Ellie! You did it! You saved us all!” Rocky cheered.

<We did it together, Rocky. All of us.>

He squinted a little.

“Yeah, I didn’t quite understand all of that, but I’m sure it was nice . . .”

Ellie rolled her eyes.

“Dr. Sattler!” 

Mr. Arnold sprinted over.

“I tried to help, but-”

Alan held up his hand.

“It’s okay. We managed just fine. Kind of.”

“Right. Anyway, I found the antidote for the PMR . . . for the virus in general.”

Muldoon cantered over.

“Well, what are you _waiting_ for? Hand it over!”

Mr. Arnold shook his head.

“If we administer the cure, it could result in temporary amnesia. We’d have to stay here for quite a while . . .”

Muldoon waved his claws dismissively.

“Fine, fine. We’ll stay as long as it takes. The park needs a game warden, anyway . . .”

Oscar Morales (who was still guarding Trixie) joined the discussion.

“If it’s alright with you two, I’d rather not take the antidote. I don’t have much waiting for me back home . . .”

Robin sighed with relief.

“I’m _so_ glad you said it first. I know it sounds crazy, but I think I could get used to this dinosaur thing . . .”

<You sure?> Ellie asked. Robin shrugged.

“Why not? Unless Yannick has any objections . . .”

Yannick stepped forward.

“You stay, I stay.”

They nuzzled each other with their snouts.

“Are you keen to stay a utahraptor, Mr. Malcolm?” Muldoon asked.

“Oh, HELL no!” Ian exclaimed, “I want to go home! Soon!”

“You _do_ realize that you can’t tell anyone about this . . .” Mr. Arnold said in warning.

“Don’t try and stop me . . .” Ian hissed.

Mr. Arnold seemed a little miffed by Ian’s comment, but Muldoon held him back.

“Easy, there . . . He probably won’t even remember any of this . . .”

<Will he?> Ellie wondered.

 

H̟͎̺̆͌̏̈ͣḛ̻̮͖̻̰͇̫̤̮͖̠̮̏̅ͧͪͦͫ̈ͪ̔ẃ͛͊̓ͯ̐o̘̻͈͓͖̫͇n̞͇̜͉̬͓͇ͧ̆ͥ͆̈ͩ'͐͊t̫͉͓͇̠͍͔̎͋͛̋̽͊

 

Ellie jumped as the Troödon’s voice(s) rang in her head. Well, that was that, then.

Muldoon and Arnold led Ian back to the lab. Never in a million years would Ellie have expected to see two velociraptors escorting a theropod twice their size across the island, but then, all of this was more or less unexpected (to put it _very_ mildly).

As she watched them leave, Ellie felt a strange twinge in her heart. It wasn’t exactly sorrow, but it certainly wasn’t a happy feeling. It was like regret, only instead of being nostalgic or pensive, it was a premonition of future emotions.

Before Ellie could dwell on the thought, the disjointed roar of a helicopter filled the sky. The raptors suddenly turned to face one side of the island.

“The beach,” Buzz said simply.

They thundered across the plain to see who had arrived on the shores of Isla Nublar.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

When the crew arrived at the beach, they were greeted with a very strange sight. A barge had been anchored near shore, and several small trucks were trickling down a ramp on its side. The helicopter had landed on top of the boat (it wouldn’t have been wise to kick up sand, obviously), and the propellers were beginning to decelerate. At the front of the squad was John Hammond. Behind him, a very happy-looking boy was riding on the back of an irritated T-Rex.

<Timmy?> Ellie gasped. He bounced up and down excitedly.

“Haha! Face the wrath of the Tyrannosaurus- _Lex_!”

The T-Rex rolled her eyes.

<Lex?>

<Hello, Dr. Sattler!>

They stood a few feet away from each other. Lex was definitely shorter than Ellie (And rightly so!), but not by much. This was the _weirdest_ reunion, ever.

“Ellie! So good to see you!” Hammond barked jovially, “I trust you haven’t had any trouble while I was gone?”

<You’re joking, right?>

“Ellie, my dear, I don’t speak T-Rex. But maybe this will help. Open up!”

He tossed a block of speckled cheese into her mouth. As soon as it touched her tongue, Ellie began to glow. Soon, she had shrunken down to her regular size.

“What the hell? . . .” Alan marveled in awe.

“Roquefort cheese,” Hammond said cheerfully, “It seems to counteract the effects of the highest transformation.”

“You know, you should have told me all of this on the phone . . .” Ellie said grumpily. Hammond chuckled.

“Would you have believed me?”

Ellie turned to Alan. He shrugged.

<Ellie!>

The raptors padded onto the beach. Hammond’s guards raised their guns, but Ellie stepped in front of them.

“Don’t shoot! They’re friendly . . .”

The look on Hammond’s face could not be properly described with mortal words. 

“There was a theropod revolution,” Ellie explained, ignoring his perceptible disbelief, “Wu was doing some _very_ inhumane experimentation . . .”

Hammond shook his head.

“Yes, yes. I suspected. Has he been detained?”

Alan gave a nervous laugh.

“We’re going to have to have a little talk . . .”

<Ellie, what’s going to happen now?> Kipper asked.

<I don’t know . . .> she whispered uneasily.

“You can communicate with these raptors? Fascinating,” Hammond marveled.

“And we can speak for ourselves,” the scarred raptor said in perfect English.

Hammond stared at the raptor for a very long time. Finally, Ellie pulled him to the side.

“John, may I have a word with you?”

“Certainly.”

She walked him down the beach until they could not be heard by the others. When they stopped, Ellie sighed and crossed her arms.

“These raptors . . . They’re smart, John. Smart like you and I. They think, they feel, they live . . . They aren’t just pets anymore . . .”

“I can see that,” he said with awe.

“They shouldn’t be held captive, John. They need protection,” Ellie continued.

“Are they dangerous?” he asked.

“They won’t hurt a soul if I tell them not too. They need to be left alone . . .”

Hammond scoffed.

“And how are we supposed to integrate them into the wild?”

“They’ll stay on this island. No one has to know that they exist. My father’s a senator: you could ask him to stage a demolition-”

“Do you know how _expensive_ that would be? I may be rich, but even wealth has its limits . . .”

“So, keep a few scientists here for research purposes.”

“It’s not enough.”

Ellie paced back and forth. She clapped her hands.

“DIAMONDS! That’s it! There are diamonds in Mount Sibo! You can mine the diamonds-”

“With dinosaurs wandering about?”

“They’ll cooperate. They’ll help.”

“And the infrastructure?”

“Rebuild it. Find volunteers.”

“And the nondisclosure agreement?”

“I will personally hunt down anyone who dares break it.”

“You seem very adamant about this . . .”

Ellie grabbed his shoulders.

“John, I have never been this devoted to _anything_ in my entire life.”

“Calm down, calm down! We’ll work something out . . .” he babbled. Ellie turned away sadly.

“John, these are my friends. I can’t let anything happen to them.”

“Then I’d better find a scientist who can take up Wu’s mantle without relying on unorthodox tactics . . .” he hinted.

Ellie nodded.

“Can you give me a minute? I need to talk to Alan . . .”

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

Charlie wasn’t looking so good. His posture was submissive, his eyes were bleak, and he dragged his feet through the sand without much care. He perked up a little when he saw Alan, but not much.

“Hey, sport. How are you feeling?” Alan asked as he kneeled to the ground.

Charlie whimpered and jumped into his arms.

“Not good!” he wailed.

He buried his face into Alan’s shoulder and began to shake. Alan patted his back gently. When Charlie turned his head, Alan saw a stream of tears trickling down his face.

“Raptors cry? . . .”

“I’m not crying!” Charlie wailed.

“Shhh . . . I know, I know . . .”

Alan didn’t hear Ellie until she called out to him. She pattered over on light feet, stepping carefully around a dozen dried starfish.

“Alan! Alan! We need to t-”

She saw Charlie.

“Oh, no . . .”

She knelt down beside them and stroked Charlie’s head. He closed his eyes and started to sob heavily.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay . . .”

Buzz and Rocky cantered over naively.

“Don’t be upset, little brother. _We’ll_ take care of you . . .” Buzz said casually.

“Yeah, don’t you worry about a thing, Dr. G!” Rocky added, nudging Alan, “We’ll watch over him when you’re gone . . .”

Charlie’s head whipped up in alarm.

“Gone? _GONE_?! You’re _LEAVING_?! . . .”

“No . . . I mean . . . yes. But it’s not quite- uh- . . . You’ll be okay . . .” Alan said weakly.

A new set of tears poured out of Charlie’s eyes as he gave Alan a look of absolute betrayal.

“Oh, Charlie . . .”

The scarred raptor noticed all of the commotion and sped over. She plucked Charlie up by the scruff of his neck and placed him on her back.

“Take good care of him . . .” Alan said quietly.

“I will,” she replied monotonously.

Alan gave a sad smile.

“Goodbye, Charlie . . .”

He reached out, but Charlie turned his head bitterly. For a moment, Alan looked hurt, but he soon reverted to his usual mien. Ellie gave him an understanding look.

As the pack began to leave, the scarred raptor walked slowly past Ellie. She paused and dipped her head so that their eyes met.

<She wasn’t talking to me, you know . . .>

Ellie bit her lip.

When the scarred raptor was out of earshot, Ellie stood up and walked over to Alan. She took both of his hands in her own and sighed.

“Alan, I was thinking . . .”

She bit her lip.

“It’s- Well, it’s like this . . .”

He waited. Ellie gulped.

“What if . . . What if we _didn’t_ go back? . . . To the mainland, I mean. Or home, generally . . .”

“Stay on the island, you mean?”

“Well, not STAY, exactly . . . but just . . . not leave.”

“That’s the same as staying . . .”

“Mhm. Kind of. Yeah.”

“Ellie . . .” Alan said gently, “If you’re asking what I think you’re asking, then the answer is yes. But only if you can explain to me- without beating around the bush- what it is you’re trying to say.”

Ellie took a deep breath.

“I want to adopt a baby raptor and live on an abandoned theme park.”

“Me too. Was that so hard?”

Ellie grabbed his collar with both hands and pulled him in for a kiss. It lasted for a very long time. Finally, they separated with a gentle click.

Alan laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t paint myself with rubber cement . . .”

Ellie chuckled.

“I don’t think there are many clinics around that could unglue us properly. We’d be stuck together for a _very_ long time . . .”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

They smiled and began to walk down the beach.

 

***TSJPFEW***

 

After speaking with Hammond, Alan and Ellie caught up with the scarred raptor. Apparently, she had sensed that they weren’t quite ready to leave. She prowled slowly across the beach, pausing occasionally to look behind her. When she saw them coming, she nudged Charlie with a smile. He raised his head and watched them charge across the sand. Although they stumbled now and then, they didn’t seem to be slowing down . . .

Before he could react, Ellie tackled Charlie to the ground. They rolled across the sand until Alan dove on top of them. Charlie thrashed around madly in Ellie’s arms.

“What are you _doing_? Are you _CRAZY_?!” he shrieked.

“Yes! Very much so!” Alan said, grabbing his tiny raptor feet. Ellie giggled like a ninny.

“You guys are so weird . . .” Charlie remarked.

The scarred raptor meandered over and stared at an upside-down Ellie.

“I take it you’ve change your mind?” she asked cheekily.

“Mhm,” Ellie hummed.

“I thought so. It’s good to have you back, Chieftain.”

Ellie sat up as a gently rumbling spread across the sand. The entirety of the theropod army was sprinting across the beach, and her raptors were in the lead. They screeched to a halt by her side. 

<Ellie! We have terrific news!> Kipper bubbled, <Hammond’s decided to make Jurassic Park a protected area. We’ve been liberated! Pretty neat, huh?>

Ellie smiled.

<Congratulations!>

<It’s a miracle!> Crusher bellowed, <I can’t imagine why he’d decide to help us after all the damage we caused . . .>

A helicopter pattered gently across the sky and flew into the sunset. The raptors watched it leave.

“Well, that’d be Ian . . .” Ellie sighed.

“So, he won’t remember a thing?” Alan asked.

“The _Troödon_ say he won’t . . .”

Morton stepped forward and nudged Ellie.

“Shouldn’t you, uh, be up there with your friend?” he asked, pointing to the helicopter. Ellie stood up and marched through the sand with a businesslike air.

“In theory, yes. But the troublesome state of affairs is this: I have been appointed Chieftain of the Raptors, and I don’t intend to abandon my post any time soon.”

“So, you’re not leaving? . . .” Bucky asked hopefully.

“How could I, when so many of you rely on my military genius?” Ellie boasted.

Alan pulled her back.

“Alright, don’t overdo it.”

“So . . . you’re _really_ staying?” Charlie asked with bright eyes.

“ _Of course_ we’re staying. We’re family,” Alan said as he scooped him up for a hug.

Ellie joined in, and soon every velociraptor, herrerasaur, gallimimus, dilophosaurus, compsognathus, and bambiraptor had gravitated towards them for a giant group hug. Soon, two allosaurs arrived and were pulled into the crowd like a magnet. Everyone laughed and smiled, even after they had separated.

As the sun set on the beach, the theropods of Isla Nublar watched warm colors dance across the sky. One by one, they returned to their respective homes, no longer restrained by electric fences, moats, or barriers of any kind.

Ellie, Alan, and Charlie were the last to leave. They sat together as the fading light began to give way to a myriad of stars. And then they turned, and walked back toward the entrance of Jurassic Park.

The End


End file.
